Lessons I Learned Job-Searching that Should Come in Handy in Afghanistan (and Beyond)

I loved grad school and can't imagine going into my field without the knowledge I gained about things like conflict theory, dynamics, escalation and analysis, peace processes, cultural considerations in conflict resolution, and peacebuilding interventions like mediation, negotiation, dialogue, and problem-solving workshops. The flip side of that is the training I'm finishing now in skills necessary for living in combat zones like working with military counterparts, wearing body armor, convoy protocol, emergency medical response, small arms familiarization, and tactical driving. But in between the MA and the job was this strange and beautiful "holding period" called job searching. In the 9 months from March to December 2010, I applied for 108 jobs before getting an offer from OTI. 108! However frustrated and discouraged I felt at times, this season was a precious one and I will always look back on it with gratitude because I learned some invaluable lessons that I didn't get in grad school or in my job training. Those 9 months, though difficult, were not just about waiting idly for the right opportunity to come along, but were necessary preparation for the next adventure. Thus, things I learned job searching that should come in handy in Afghanistan:

Fight
You don't get your dream job by sitting around in your pajamas waiting for someone to offer it to you on a silver platter (although that would have been nice for my ego). I'm good at being flexible, accommodating, and enduring hardship. I can take what life throws at me and adjust. While acceptance and capitulation work in some situations, I learned that sometimes I need to stand down and fight! Not just let life happen to me, but fight the bad and fight FOR the good. It was impossible to job search from a position of passivity and anonymity. I had to be out there, taking initiative and risks, owning responsibility, and making a way for myself. The shadows are safe, but I am well-positioned for nothing there. Likewise (and perhaps paradoxically), I have to fight for peace - it doesn't just happen on its own. I have to work hard and take initiative to MAKE peace, over and over and over and over again - without giving up or capitulating to the forces that seek to steal it. Peacebuilding is a battle!

Access the Good
I realized my natural tendency is to default to self-pity in difficult circumstances. But in the season of job searching, I was challenged to walk through the valley not with head hung low, but with eyes open to the good that was accessible. Instead of retreating to the familiar "woe is me" stance when faced with desolate-feeling situations like constant rejection and running out of money, I learned instead to choose to ask the questions: What can I learn right now that I couldn't learn under other circumstances? What is the opportunity? Where is the good here? How am I to respond in the midst of this? As I enter into countries affected by warfare - some of the most desolate and hopeless in the world - how important it will be for me to see opportunity and access the good even when it seems like things can't get any worse. There is always a way to turn the valley into a place of springs, but you have to look for it.

Hope
I was full of hope about my next step when I finished grad school, which came under serious fire as my number of applications mounted (50, 60, 80, 100!) over several months with little to no evidence that I was making any progress at all. Here there was a challenge - would I believe solely in the reality I could see on the surface, or would I choose to believe there was more going on behind the scenes than I could see with my eyes? I had to choose daily not to lose heart and not to throw away my confidence, but believe that it would be rewarded - holding on to hope beyond what seemed rational at times. I think this type of hope and perseverance are essential to the work of building peace. Often when all seems lost is when we are closest to breakthrough - what a shame it would be to give up right before you got there!

Patience & Timing
Even though I was looking for a job during this whole season, I realized that life is not primarily about striving for outcomes, but faithfulness on the journey - transformation, not destination. When I fix my eyes on an outcome, no matter how noble, it's too easy to lose sight of the good around me in the present, to lose hope in the face of obstacles, and to try to rush the process - when often the process is more valuable than the outcome. Seasons have their own rhythms, and there is nothing I can do to slow or rush them - the best thing I can do is simply engage that pace and enjoy it, taking advantage of the present and the unique opportunities it offers to grow and learn. Likewise, peace is a process, not a destination. Timing is important when it comes to peacebuilding interventions - better to look for opportunities to engage with change agents and movements going on in the present moment (however small) than try to force an outcome that may actually be a year (or 5 or 20) down the road.

9 months of job searching was no party, but what had the potential to look like a desolate valley actually turned out to be a place of springs that prepared me for the next part of the journey. And did I mention that at the end of it all, I got my dream job? Yeah, I'd call that a win.