I graduated college (the first time) in 1992, smack dab in the middle of a huge recession. I constantly interviewed for jobs but each time I was met with “we aren’t hiring now, but we’ll keep your resume on file.” Yeah, thanks for that. Although the life insurance sales companies were hiring, go figure. So I turned from my school’s placement office to the good old classified ads. I answered one to be a software instructor for a small company and on the week of finals, I got the job. I was sweating bullets on that one because I had no backup plan. My Mom had moved away and I wanted to stay in Oklahoma so if I could not find a job then I’d have to find something that paid enough to pay for my car and a place to stay. Luckily, I did get that job offer, for almost half what I was hoping to receive, and thus embarked on an incredibly bizarre learning curve for the next two years.

All of the jobs I had had before then, line worker at Hilti, busboy, survey taker at the mall, Anthropology lab monkey, had been the summer-type jobs. I pretty much hated every one of them, although the Anthropology one wasn’t bad because it was work-study at school. After the first night on the job I would be filled with such depression that I actually thought there was something wrong with me. I could not wait to quite those jobs. My fear was that once I started my career, it would be the same thing and I didn’t know what to do about it.

So the first day at my new job rolls around and I did feel a lot of stress and worry, but I did avoid the crushing despair the others gave me. So I was working for this small company, about two dozen people, teaching Word, Excel, Lotus, etc. to people. It was definitely something I was good at and pretty soon I found myself enjoying it. I also discovered a work ethic that had previously lain dormant inside of me. Suddenly, I was the company man. I’d work late to take care of things, if needed, I became ultra dependable, I was definitely the go-to guy. When the company started an employee of the month program, I was the first choice. I handled the classes others didn’t and almost always got excellent reviews.

All around me, though, was the drama a soap opera would reject because it was too unrealistic. People sleeping together, mysterious promotions, shady business deals, policies that came one week and changed the next, missing management, and ultimately a raid by the FBI. Luckily I had already quit by the time the last one occurred, although I did get the joy of being subpoenaed and talking with an FBI agent.

I made some friends there and I keep in constant touch with one of the other instructors there. He lasted nine months before leaving. We both laugh at how our time there seemed like three times that amount when compared to other jobs. Truly the 2 years I was there felt like 6. What I wonder now was how I could put up with all that chaos for so long.

Well reason number one is a healthy fear of change. Nobody really likes change, but at the time (and to a lesser extent still) I would avoid change as much as possible. Also was the ignorance that can only come in your early twenties. For all I knew, this was what office life was like all over. Finally, I spent so much of my time and effort at the place that I really didn’t see everything that was going on until much later. The forest for the trees.

As bad and bizarre as that place was, I did walk out of there with an amazing discovery. I had something I excelled at and also a work ethic to make it work. Discovering that about myself set me on a long path to self-confidence and success. I may not have realized it at the time, but all of those experiences honed me and directed me to where I am now.

So remember when you find yourself in difficult situations, that these are often the ultimate learning tools about yourself. Try and look inside as objectively as possible and see what is really there. You may be pleasantly surprised or you may find an area that needs sharpening. No matter what though, look.