Comments From Our President/CEO, Eric Schwarz

          Before each issue of “In Focus” gets distributed, it gets routed through my office for a final look. Last month, I spent a few extra minutes reading Harry’s essay on the “Three Eights”. This was due to my concern that the message did not encourage follow- through in work situations that were not the “perfect job”. I completely agree that in the best circumstances, investing “the working eight hours” of your life in a job you enjoy is ideal and should be a personal goal. The problem is this: learning takes place in all environments and sometimes the best learning is reached through adversity. I did not enjoy all the jobs I worked but I can honestly say, all of the jobs I held led me to the success I’ve encountered in my working life.  My advice if you want the working eight to pay dividends is simple: your attitude about work needs to be positive even when you don’t want to work. Your ability to “stick it out” is critical to build a stronger résumé and story for your dream job interview, and finally, using eight hours of your day to be miserable for pay is not bad if you are learning lessons from the experience. I encourage this sacrifice to all those who are currently out of work.   Work builds character and knowledge. You don’t lay idle and wait for the dream job, you work for it!