Michael Alan Tate - THE WHITE SHIRT

THE

W HI T E

SHIRT

Find Your Peaceful & Life-giving
Career at Any Stage of Life

M ICHAEL A LAN T ATE

Includes a Step-by-Step Guide to Design Your
One-Page Career Strategy in One Week

NEW YORK

LONDONNASHVILLEMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

THE WHITE SHIRT

Find Your Peaceful and Life-giving Career at Any Stage in Life

2019 Michael Alan Tate

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

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ISBN 9781683508717 paperback

ISBN EB 9781683508724 eBook

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017918434

Cover & Interior Design by:

Christopher Kirk

www.GFSstudio.com

The White Shirt is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are the products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Illustrations by Drew Young

Editorial Assistance by Minnie Lamberth

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You need not see what someone is doing to know if it is his/her vocation, you have only to watch their eyes: a cook mixing a sauce, a surgeon making a primary incision, a clerk completing a bill of lading, wear the same rapt expression, forgetting themselves in a function. How beautiful it is, that eye-on-the-object look.

W. H. Auden

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)

T his book is dedicated in loving memory of Richard N. Bolles. Dick was a man of intelligent, grace-filled faith. His insights and advice moored my understanding of the science and art of career advising. Of all the things he taught me, three ring always in my ears: One, the true task of the career coach is healing, two, what separates the professionals from the con artist in this work is that the pros can help you create a plan, and three, he would say with a twinkle in his eye, What works in job search works in life.

Salute, Dick

A t thirty years old I was in a career that I believed was my life calling. A mentor had directed me to this vocation with the sincerest intent. With his help, my postgraduate studies were in this field, and here I wasan administrator and educator. I enjoyed being in this role. I was good at my tasks. The organization was growing, even setting new records. I loved the people there. By all outward signs, all was good.

But something was missing.

I loved the work I was doing, but the pressures of the environment were too much for me. I just didnt fit. I began to dread going into the office, and it got worse. Depression set in. I felt trapped. Having dedicated my life (to this point) to the noble work I was doing, how could I even consider getting out nowwhen I was barely in?

Family and friends were proud of me, and, of course, my pride was on the line as well. But things werent getting any better. I saw this clearly the day my family and I were driving back from an out-of-state vacation. As we crossed the state line toward home and got closer to my return to my workplace, the migraines started. A few months later I was in the emergency room with boils over most of my body. It was over. A few weeks later I resigned.

Relief.

No more migraines, the boils went away, but now what? I knew what I didnt want to do, but what did I want to do? I knew I needed to change fields, but to what? How?

I tried searching on my own by responding to job-opening ads but with little success. With my educational background, I was astonished that something better wasnt showing up for me. Money was running out, so I finally sought professional help with a career counseloran expensive professional career counselor. Or, considering the cost, at least I thought I was getting a professional. He turned out to be a lot less.

The counselor gave a few career assessment tests, then declared a career that was a perfect fit for me, and we sent out 500 resumes. That was the plan. He knew it would work. He was wrong.

I had only one responseafter 500 resumes to 500 organizations. Five hundred HR people looked at me, and only one said, OK, lets talk. I had one interview, then no returned call. My discouragement had only gotten worse.

What is wrong with me? I asked myself over and over. I know I have skills, drive, and character to be a great employee. Hadnt I proved myself already? Whats the deal?

But by now I had gotten even more depressed than when I was at my last job. I told the professional career counselor how I felt, and he stopped returning my calls. Exasperated, I cut ties with the counselor, and at that moment I decided, I will do whatever it takes so no one who needs career help will have to endure what I went through.

My crisis was now my second calling.

Almost broke, I paid my bills through a series of sales jobs as I pursued my new vocational vision. In the meantime, I told a friend what I wanted to do and asked for her advice. She helped me think through a plan and stood by me during my search. She suggested I contact a guy named Phil Ronniger, a career consultant in Louisville, Kentucky.

Phil was a real pro. He mentored me for over a year, which set me on the path to this second calling. I will forever be indebted to him for all he gave me, but the turning point was when he recommended I spend some time with Richard Bolles, the author of What Color is Your Parachute? I did. That time with Bolles changed my life forever. His wisdom and insights on career transition strategy helped me finally realize that there was nothing wrong with me when I couldnt find the right job.