Posted by JanetK_CA on 2/9/06 2:39pm
Msg #95867
A Lesson on Attitude for New SAs...
A couple of pages back, there was a thread (msg # 95509) from someone asking for copies of other people’s résumés, which got me back onto my soap box. This is with apologies (for using your post) and thanks (for giving me a great opportunity to make this point) to Anonymous 71.56.206.79. I have taken this person’s last post (msg # 95606) on that thread (in quotes below) and added my perspective in the hope that this will help some of you adjust your attitudes in the direction I feel they will need to go for you to succeed in this – or any other – business of your own. (After getting carried away with this, I decided to start a new thread so that this doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.)
"All I want to say is that when people post on here asking a question, all they are looking for is guidance."
Wrong. Maybe you didn't realize it, but what you asked for is the equivalent of copying from someone else's paper at school, also called cheating. Write your own! If you're not sure how to do a résumé, research it, work on it, and then ask for feedback. There are many who will offer their honest opinion and give you good suggestions, but after after putting in hours of hard work on their own résumés, they won't just hand it over to you, if they have any sense. If they do, it's probably not worth getting a copy of. (jmo)
"If you feel the question is stupid or inappropriate then don't respont to that particular thread, you dont need to constatly make your voice heard in a disrespectful manner."
Some of the best advice I ever received from a notary MB (once I finally found them...) was pretty coarse, hard to take and to the point, and it helped me a great deal. It's not always easy, but it's a great idea to ignore the style and look to the substance of the responses from those who are successful and know what they are talking about. (And, after a while, it's not that hard to figure out who to listen to and who to ignore.) Keep in mind, that no one has any obligation to offer someone else the benefit of their own hard-earned expertise for free. Any new person coming to this board should be GRATEFUL BEYOND WORDS to have a chance to pick the brain of the pros! And it’s real easy to blame the messenger if you don’t like the message.
"Im sure that there are decent people out there who are willing to help because they remember what it was like to be starting off from scratch."
Yes, that is partly why people help others here. But mostly it's because they are just good, nice people. It's also because of an interest in raising the overall standards of performance of those in our chosen career path. Poor performance (which we are seeing more and more of) reflects negatively on the whole profession, while excellent performance helps generate respect for what we do. (They have nothing else to gain and potentially business to lose.) And I’d bet you that none of the pros who post here would have asked what you are asking for on an open forum.
"Are you telling me that you decided to get into this industry and you never made any mistakes or asked stupid questions or asked for help in general????"
Everyone makes mistakes when they are learning, but I never expected anyone to serve up the answers for me without any effort on my part. (In fact, I was an SA for a year before I even discovered these boards.) You will gain so much more by finding the answers on your own and are more likely to retain the information. If you can't find the answer, come back here and ask a specific question, but you disrespect the people you would have help you by not first doing your own homework. We worked hard to get where we are and, like any business, aren't about to give away proprietary information, such as client lists, contact information, marketing materials, resumes, etc. etc. And you shouldn’t expect it to be given to you.
"....anyway, I guess it doesnt matter. I just dont see any need to be rude, disrespectful or stuck up."
True, but several clichés come to mind: 'beggars can't be choosers"; "don't look a gift horse in the mouth"; and especially "don't bite the hand that feeds you." Remember, you're asking for a favor here. Why should anyone waste their time helping you if you're just going to complain that they didn't say it nice enough?!
"We all start somehow and I think we should be appreciative and help one another."
Yes, you who are asking for assistance should be appreciative of the generosity of those who freely give their help and support. But let's be honest here. This may sound like a flame, but the truth is that I doubt you have much help to offer to me or to any of the other successful SAs who post here, while we could teach you quite a bit. I know of few, if any, businesses where people will train their competition for free. It's just not smart business. And the concept of helping only others who are geographically distant is an illusion when it comes to online posts, because the guy the next street over can read it just as easily. Do you see what a blessing it is to have so much good information offered to you for the asking? Treasure it, but don't abuse the privilege. There are already a good number of highly knowledgeable and experienced SAs that don’t bother posting here any more because so many either didn’t like the hard truths they were offered or complained about the way it was delivered. Everyone’s loss!
Again, if you take this to heart, I believe you will be much better off. If this upsets you, I’m sorry, but feel free to hurl your abuse my way… I’ve learned to develop a thick skin in this business and I can take it! :>) Besides, if that's the case, I doubt you'll make it for very long at this anyway...
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