I spent Thursday and Friday doing something I have been putting off for five years: cleaning up my office. 

I call it my "office" only in the broadest sense, since it houses my desk, PC (memory recently upgraded, amazing how 2 gigs solves those multi-tasking issues), files, books, memorabilia, and artwork. There is an N.C. Wyeth "Cream of Wheat" print, framed old money (e.g., a fifteen shilling note issued in Pennsylvania under the auspices of King George, 1773), and an aberrant art  limited lithograph of Original Sin (395/950) by Barry Kite. I also have a train hand-carved from one piece of Pennsylvania coal (legacy from my father-in-law), a color photograph of one of Grania's castles (this one one Achill Island, County Mayo), and a painted birdhouse and brown-glazed decorated pot, both made by my artistic better half. A golf-themed wallpaper border tops the walls, and a brass golf-bag circling music box ("In The Good Old Summertime"), legacy of my father, reminds me that it is never too cold for golf. 

All of this buried under the detritis of five years of the empty nest becoming full again, and my procrastination in pitching old files, from the last time I was in the no-job dillema. 

So I gritted my teeth, took several Advil, and proceeded to shred (my stuff) or box (family stuff), until I papered three bankers boxes and confettied six forty gallon trash bags, as my venerable straight-cut shredder finally gave up the ghost.

As I looked through the resumes, cover letters, and presentations (oh yes, I did create several presentations which I used in interviews!), it was clear how inadequately I approached the task, by trying to sell my skills and competencies rather than the value I would bring to the right organization. This feeling was driven home when I found the rejection file...a depressing and impersonal anthology of cards and letters, many of which I would never have received if I hadn't been persistent in follow up. 

Memo to self: you will be an afterthought in the mind of a hiring manager who selects another candidate...don't take it personally. Remember, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." (Wilde)

One other revelation: there is no better gauge of how the business has changed considerably over the past seven years, than to look at the research of that time, the era of the Internet  explosion and subsequest deflation as the unsustainable bubble burst. When I look at the infrastructure of business today, it is jamais vu all over again.