Desire on a Resume

I am on day-two with a group of 15 people who were laid off from their jobs two weeks ago. They are a small representation of over 300 who left the company with little warning, much grief, and now the painstaking work of figuring out where to go from here. Their former employer purchased them outplacement services as part of their separation package – 16 hours of hands-on work that will hopefully better-prepare them for a crazy, volatile, and less-than-friendly job market. And that’s where I come in: the 16 hours are spent with me. God help them, huh?

I’ve been working as a part-time consultant with many in this displaced work force since May and here’s what most of them have in common:

1. They are extraordinary individuals who were incredibly loyal to their employers.
2. They are kind, committed, talented, and full of integrity.
3. They are anxious and afraid.
4. They are filled with desire (whether they’d articulate it as such, or not).

“Desire” doesn’t show up on their resumes.

Bobby Unser, the race-car driver (no, not one of my normal quote sources) said this: “Desire! That’s the one secret of every man’s career. Not education. Not being born with hidden talents. Desire.” I think he’s on to something.

Despite a huge setback in their personal and professional lives, they desire. It’s true: perhaps at this point it’s only for another stable paycheck. But it’s still desire. And I believe that it’s their desire, our desire, that compels, shapes, and defines life. So why do we resist it? Why do we understand it as something to “get over” or “master?”

Maybe it’s because we don’t consistently, truly, honestly acknowledge it unless we’re prompted. We admit it only when we know lack or loss or want or need. Or when we lose our jobs. I guess that makes sense, but for some reason, I’m not willing to concede this totally; that desire only exists in such a state. Rather, I want desire to be seen, understood, and experienced as a desirable thing (redundant, I know); something that we ought/want to maintain, sustain, and nurture at all times.

I can’t imagine not feeling desire. It’s this deep acknowledgement of all that I hope for, visualize, imagine, and dream. Sometimes it’s visceral. Sometimes it’s intellectual. Sometimes it’s emotional. Sometimes it’s all three and more. Bottom line, though; it is. All the time. Sometimes painful. Usually, though, a glorious reminder that I’m alive.

In the context of two days of outplacement work, skill assessment, resume development, and interview preparedness, I wonder how a recruiter or potential hiring manager would respond to “Desire” as a job title?

Desire Specialist
Highly motivated individual who maintains and promotes intense longing at all times. Proficient in endless hoping, visualizing, imagining, and dreaming. Demonstrates significant expertise at promoting the deep acknowledgement of such in self and others at all times. Committed to nurturing all contexts in which desire is made manifest, fanned into flame, and ignited.

Probably not the “tip” I should give the 15 I’m working with yesterday and today. Then again, maybe so. Desire is good. Hope is good. Intentionally imagining a future, and even a present, that right now feels murky, distant, and nearly unattainable is hard work, but SO worthwhile. Acknowledging deep-seeded, long-buried dreams matters. Letting desire bubble up and be seen is a beautiful, transformative thing. How great would it be if I could somehow convert 15 more to become Desire Specialists with me?

Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained. (William Blake)

Desire and hope will push us on toward the future. (Michel de Montagne)

Desire is the very essence of man. (Baruch Spinoza)

Tagged as: desire, dream, hope, imagine, layoff, resume, visualize

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