헝그리 정신

회사에서 채용을 위한 면접을 하면서 위기가 닥쳐왔을 때 극복한 사례를 이야기 해보라고 주문할 때가 있습니다. 헝그리 정신이 있는지 알아보기 위해서이지요.

헝그리 정신을 가진 사람은 역경에도 굴하지 않고 악착같이 물고 늘어져 이겨냅니다. 어떤 어려움도 견뎌내는 잡초 같은 근성을 지녔지요. 극한 상황을 극복하고 일어선 경험이 있는 사람은 오뚝이처럼 일도 잘하게 마련입니다. 

어려움을 모르고 곱게만 자란 사람은 며칠만 비가 오지 않아도 시들어버리는 온실 속 화초와 같습니다. 바람이 불거나 벌레가 달려들기라도 하면 곧 시들어버리지요.

불황을 맞아 정규직이든 비정규직이든 일자리 구하기가 하늘의 별따기입니다. 방학 기간 중엔 더 어렵습니다. 이런 현상은 한국과 캐나다는 물론 세계 어느 곳에서나 동일합니다.

어려운 시기에 아이디어를 내어 일자리를 찾는 사람, 경험을 쌓은 사람은 상황이 회복된 후 더 큰 능력을 발휘하리라 생각됩니다. 역경을 이겨낸 힘이 그를 더욱 강하게 만들었을 테니까요.

어릴적 시골 동네에 대장간이 있었습니다. 화로엔 불이 벌겉게 타고 있었지요. 호기심에 가득찬 눈으로 칼이나 낫을 만드는 광경을 지켜보곤 하였습니다. 

쇠붙이를 불에 넣어 뜨겁게 달군 후 끄집어내어 망치로 두들기기를 반복합니다. 이후 차가운 물에 집어 넣어 식힙니다. 쇠가 물에 들어갈 때면 씨이익하는 소리를 내면서 김이 솟곤 했습니다. 

얼마간을 식힌 후 다시 불에 넣고 달굽니다. 벌겋게 된 쇠를 꺼내어 망치로 두들기고 물에 넣기를 반복하지요. 이런 과정을 통하여 날카로운 칼이 만들어지고 낫이 되어졌습니다. 때로는 호미가 나오기도 했지요.

쇠가 변하여 칼이 되고 낫이 되려면 달구어지고 두들겨 맞아야 합니다. 쇳덩이가 풀뭇불에 들어가지 않겠다고 고집하고 두들겨 맞기 싫어한다면 칼이나 낫으로 거듭날 수 없겠지요. 

우리네 인생도 이와 같을 것입니다. 어려움이 닥칠 때 회피하고 도망가려 한다면 결코 강해질 수 없습니다. 어려움이 닥치더라도 이겨내려 노력하는 가운데 아이디어가 나오고, 오기가 생기고, 끈기를 배웁니다. 강인함이 몸에 베입니다.

힘든 일이든 쉬운 일이든 의미 없이 주어지는 건 없습니다. 상황에 따라 배울 것이 있습니다. 환경이나 상황을 원망하고 노력하지 않는 사람에게는 해결책이 주어지지 않습니다.

물살을 타고 오르는 한 마리 물고기처럼 급류를 거슬러 올라갈 때 기회는 찾아옵니다. 

 

<Self-advertising pays off>

Unemployment spawned creativity for Megan Bond. From 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Friday, the third-year university student stood on the traffic medium on the corner of Princess Street and Augusta Road in Kingston, ont.,wearing a sandwich board that read, "Univ. Student Needs Summer Job."

It worked.

Bond's unconventional mode of self-promotion worked, as she was offered not one, but two positions-working part-time at Card's Bakery and the other working full time as a driver for Napa Auto Parts.

"If somebody had told me at the beginning of the summer, that I would have to do this to find a job, I wouldn't have believed them," she said.

Bond, 19, said she began her job search before school finished, and despite handing out more than 100 applications, her search failed to produce any offers.

"I ended school at the end of April. I applied for 32 positions with the City of Kingston and didn't hear back about any of them," she said. "My dad lives in Oshawa, so I was also applying for the summer jobs there as well."

"I just kept on applying to everything and anything I was able to."

Bond said difficulty in finding a job was not due to lack of work experience. She worked for four years as a cashier at Sobey's and last summer was a communications co-ordinator with Big Brothers and Big Sisters here in Kingston.

During the school year, she worked part-time as a tour guide at the University of Western ontario, where she is studying media and technoculture.

Bond said it was her father who came up with the idea to self-advertise her services.

"He thought it had never been done before, and it was worth a try."

Originally from Tillson-burg, Bond admitted at first she found the idea embarrassing, but wasn't self-conscious, due to her feeling of anonymity in the city.

"We just moved here two years ago, so I wasn't worried about too many people I know seeing me."

Nonetheless, Bond said she ultimately decide to give it a try because she financially, could not afford to go the rest of the summer without a job.

"Desperate times do call for desperate measures," she said. "I have to pay for my schooling. I have to foot my entire bill pretty much.  OASP pays a little bit and my parents try to help when they can, but I have to cover most of my education.

"That's why my drive to find a job was so strong."

Bond said the news of he job-hunting strategy was met with a confused response from her friends.

"They were originally like, 'no, you didn't do that," she said, "(but) they knew how difficult it had been for me to find a job, so they understood why I did this,"

Bond chose the full-time position.

"I need to make as much money as I can this summer, that's why I chose the Napa Auto Parts job," she said. "Plus, I love driving, so doing deliveries should be a lot of fun."

Bond said she learned a lot about her new home through this experience.

"Kingstone people were really nice," she said. "It was really the generosity of strangers that helped me out."

Glen Pearey, the local Napa manager, said a tip from one of his driver brought his attention to Bond.

"He came back to the office and told me that there was a girl on Princess Street advertising that she needed work. He didn't get her number, so I sent another driver out and she gave him her card, with her dad's phone number.

"I called(and) she had a interview that afternoon."

Pearcey said he was willing to go out a limb because he was impressed by Bond's motivation.

"I was definitely interested in her initiative," he said.

"It goes to someone's work ethic. It say a lot about how somebody lives their life.

"Anyone who is a go-getter I want working for me."

Pearcy said as an employer, he weighs the interview more heavily than the resume.

"Standing on Princess wearing a board, that certainly got her an interview in a hurry."

Gilliam Watters, program manager at Kingstone Employment and Youth Services, said Bond's story is not an uncommon one.

"Its the tightest student labour market I've seen in a while, at least two or three years."

Watters said her agency has placed 687 students with employers who, like Napa Auto Parts, are enrolled in th "Summer Job Service" program.

Watters said Bond's method of finding work is an example of more proactive approach to finding a job, one that is often necessary in today's competitive job market.

"It takes is a more active job search," she said, "and you can't get much more active than what she did.  

"Employers are being more choosy about who they hire. "It's about personal contact. That makes a difference."

(Source: 24hours. Monday 27, 2009 page 13)