Job search lessons from the Patriots' big win
Was it Yogi Berra's politically incorrect "It ain't over 'till the fat
lady sings" or Winston Churchill's "Never, never, never give up" motto
that was posted in the locker room in University of Phoenix Stadium
yesterday? Maybe both.
Who knows? But "It wasn't over until it was over" in the 49th
Super Bowl played on February 1, 2015. Malcolm Butler, a rookie
free-agent from nowhere--correct that--from West Alabama sealed the
victory for the big names from the New England Patriot's organization,
with Tom Brady at the top of that legendary list.
It's not only only the game-determining big play, like Butler's, that
wins the game. It's every gritty play from the opening kickoff until the
final gun that wins the game. If Butler had intercepted Seattle
quarterback Russell Wilson's pass in the final minute of play with New
England trailing by more than a touchdown, he wouldn't be a hero for the
next twelve months. It would have been "too little, too late." Butler's
heroics were labeled as such because the previous 59-plus minutes of
regulation put New England in a position to seal the victory-which
Butler did.
Indeed, Butler is now a hero until Super Bowl 50 because the Patriots
were leading at that moment thanks to the play of their marquee
athletes. They simply would not quit. Not one of them. They "refused to
loose," as Saint Louis head coach, Jeffrey Michael Fisher, coined the
phrase. Fisher, to be accurate, coined the phrase when he was head coach
of the Tennessee Titans who refused to refuse to lose and came up one
yard short of winning Super Bowl 34 in 2000; losing to (you guessed it)
the Saint Louis Rams.
On January 30, 2000, Tennessee Titan quarterback, Steve McNair (since
tragically deceased) completed a last-second pass to wide receiver Kevin
Dyson at the one-yard line. Unfortunately for McNair and the Titans,
Saint Louis Rams linebacker, Mike Jones, tackled Dyson a half-yard short
of the goal line, preserving the Rams' 23–16 victory. A clutch
defensive play not unlike Butler's last night.
As the Titan's proved, just having a catchy mantra doesn't mean you follow it.
I started out of college and sent out 394 resumes from the time I
graduated until I received my first job in Los Angeles television with
KNBC six months later. I went on to enjoy nine years with The Disney
Company and later, McGraw-Hill and Partners in Human Resources International in New York City.
That's relevant because there would not have been a career for me at
Disney or beyond if I had quit after I mailed the 393rd resume. It took
394 resumes before my name rolled across the closing credits of my first
NBC television special. Who knew?
The take-away message that every one of us should cherish from Super
Bowls 34 and 49 is that, no matter how hard you have fought or how
diligently you have persevered, victory might just be one more snap
away. That's the eternal promise to the job seeker: one more resume, one
more application, or one more contact might make the difference, be the
one, or seal the deal.
Tom Brady, one of the most celebrated football heroes in the game,
raised his hands in victory moments after Malcolm Butler, a relative
unknown until that decisive moment, made the play that sealed the
victory. (I'd like to be Malcolm's agent Monday morning.) But it was
Brady, and the rest of the Patriot's roster that earned the victory,
even after Seattle played heroically and good fortune bounced their way
almost often enough to win.
Don't leave the winning resume on your computer. Don't forgo the phone
call, email, or social networking opportunity that will unlock the door
you've been waiting to unlock. Don't come up one yard short of your
Super Bowl victory. You're worth that one last effort.