My first job after college involved me coordinating conference calls across America's time zones to ensure that people did their jobs well and thus KEPT their employment. My other duties included getting new hires' (across the country) information accurately inputted into the main system and reaching out to them for omissions or corrections. All of my life's volunteer work/fund-raising has been to support organizations--so their people can keep their jobs.
During my 15 years in NY retail, I have trained, retooled, disciplined, hired, fired, retained, negotiated, transferred and educated 70 employees. In my very first retail job, I stepped forward to assist worthy employees to keep their positions. Refraining from backstabbing politics at work, I have always been a pinnacle of decency, trying to uphold a meritocracy whenever possible. (Nonetheless, I'm smart at organizational politics and maneuvering).
As a retail manager, I did my best to get good people hired--not just my friends or folks who bribed me with favors. I "scaled mountains" to help a financially-challenged woman get a job at my company… because I knew her to be trustworthy, talented and hard-working. I recruited another former colleague to my current job, to help her escape an oppressive work environment. For talented staff, I went "above and beyond" to help them get internal transfers--even though it moved them out of my department. When one young woman needed to relocate out-of-state, I worked with a company Director to get her a job at our branch in that state. The thankful woman was able to keep her seniority and pay scale, and it made her "moving" so much easier!
Beyond the job description of "manager", I helped subordinates (where English wasn't their first langue nor was it their strongpoint) to compose letters to doctors, tutors, teachers, scholarships. When it was elicited from me (or seemed like it would be appreciated from me), I tutored staff about Life Balance, nutrition, stress-management, and cohesive teamwork. When colleagues were "feeling down", I selflessly stepped in to buoy them up… for all kinds of scenarios: medical emergencies, missing persons, elder relative accidents, stressful family occasions, relationship issues, job-related stress, financial stress, and arguments.
When my boyfriend told me of his friend who recently moved to NYC and needed employment, I successfully matched her talents and got her a job at my company. At my last job, I was able to promote three of my staff (out of 10) to other divisions. When a subordinate informed me of his desire to change careers, I graciously coordinated with him to allow him time to "ease out of our employment"--while maintaing work standards for our department. When another man needed to move into a new home, I coordinated schedules to seamlessly facilitate it. I repeated that process for a newly-hired woman, a few months later. The same went for vacation/time-off requests (which kept my team "pulling hard" for me).
Respectful of varied cultures/faiths/races/sexual orientation, I have usually melded well with coworkers. I never denied a job applicant based on their demographic. In doing so, my teams have often had great talent (from unexpected sources). Exponentially, the number of client Thank You's that I have is astounding.
At my previous job, I increased my department's revenue to being the second largest in the country (out of 33 locations). Going from a status of the worst "problem areas", I made it the best-performing store in my 6 store district--even surpassing the national flagship, also in NYC! I resurrected that department's reputation. I increased the Customer Satisfaction Survey scores to the highest ratings in that store's 10-year history! (a survey was given to every single customer). The (now retired) Vice President, of 14 years, who hired me was amazed at my performance, considering that I had no prior knowledge of that industry. The National Director, of 20 years with the company, is a die-hard job reference for me.
Before that job, my career as a retail salesman (and Key Holder and AM) earned me the rank of 4 of 14 at my Long Island flagship store (amongst several 20+ year veterans who also worked there). My net sales for four years exceeded $1 million dollars--quite an accomplishment considering the price-point of the merchandise I sold. I ranked 45 in the "top 100" of 1,500 salespeople; the top 30 worked at NYC and other city flagships. And I began that job without any prior retail experience. The program that I eventually managed was doubled, by my efforts, in less than a year.
My three jobs before that had me reporting directly to a company president, two Vice Presidents, and a CEO. All of whom loved me, yet their organizations either relocated or closed (for foreign ventures). They still act as job references for me and fondly recall my accomplishments/impact.
At my previous job, I increased my department's revenue to being the second largest in the country (out of 33 locations). Going from a status of the worst "problem areas", I made it the best-performing store in my 6 store district--even surpassing the national flagship, also in NYC! I resurrected that department's reputation. I increased the Customer Satisfaction Survey scores to the highest ratings in that store's 10-year history! (a survey was given to every single customer). The (now retired) Vice President, of 14 years, who hired me was amazed at my performance, considering that I had no prior knowledge of that industry. The National Director, of 20 years with the company, is a die-hard job reference for me.
Before that job, my career as a retail salesman (and Key Holder and AM) earned me the rank of 4 of 14 at my Long Island flagship store (amongst several 20+ year veterans who also worked there). My net sales for four years exceeded $1 million dollars--quite an accomplishment considering the price-point of the merchandise I sold. I ranked 45 in the "top 100" of 1,500 salespeople; the top 30 worked at NYC and other city flagships. And I began that job without any prior retail experience. The program that I eventually managed was doubled, by my efforts, in less than a year.
My three jobs before that had me reporting directly to a company president, two Vice Presidents, and a CEO. All of whom loved me, yet their organizations either relocated or closed (for foreign ventures). They still act as job references for me and fondly recall my accomplishments/impact.
So, NO, I don't see how I could've earned any bad karma to complicate my job search. The way I see it, I should have plenty of good karma to be efficiently/seamlessly segued into a new successful job. Thus, I can't explain my repeatedly unpleasant experiences. Another of life's mysteries. Yet, my conscience is clear.
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