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Looking for what we need in the wrong place

Francisco MiravalAn old joke tells the story of a man who finds his wife in the kitchen with all the lights on and clearly looking for something. She explains she lost her ring. They both look for the ring, without finding it. He then asks her where she lost the ring, and she says the lost it in the basement, but she is looking for the ring in the kitchen because there is more light there. The absurdity of the story is evident and I was thinking about that absurdity when I recently read two reports that, when taking together, seem to indicate that Hispanics in the United States are doing what the woman of the story was doing: looking for what they (we) need (resources, employment, customers) in all the wrong places. Let me explain. Last April, Borrell Associates published a report saying than in 2018 90 percent of all jobs will be announced only online (“digital advertising”) and not in traditional media. Even today, 84 percent of all employment opportunities are announced only online.At the same time, a report published by Delta Asesores in March 2014 reveals that only 11 percent of Latinos know how to find employment or other resources online. In fact, according to the same report, 41 percent of Latino never searched for employment online and another 48 percent of Latino did search for jobs or customers online, but they were unsuccessful. In addition, Delta Asesores says that the situation has remained practically unchanged since April 2011, the first time they did a similar survey. In other words, at the same time than 9 out of 10 jobs (customers, resources) are only online, 9 out of 10 Latinos can’t or won’t look for jobs (customers, resources) online. They are doing the same thing the woman of the joke above mentioned did, and, therefore, they will never find what they are looking for.What should be done? Clearly, we need to learn to look for what we need wherever those resources happen to be. Last March, Rebecca Matter, co-managing partner of American Writers and Artists Inc (AWAI), presented a webinar about that topic.Matter suggested focusing on one industry (or “niche”) and then use keywords in a search engine to find companies (organizations, agencies) we would like to do business with. Those companies should be real (that is, physical location, professional web site constantly updated, and several channels of communication.) In addition, we should talk with the proper person and make a good first impression. The goal, Matter said, should be to “establish a relationship” and not just to get hired or to sign a contract. She also talked about learning how to be persuasive both verbally and in writing, to write down a list of our achievable, measurable goals, and to have a list of at least 20 people we would like to contact to obtain resources (employment, customers.)Good advice, indeed, to learn how to look for what we need in the proper place.

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