If You Really Want Success, Go through Unpeopled Ground
January 15, 2010
What You Will Learn
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In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “To go one thousand lives without fear, go through unpeopled ground.” To me, this means when you go forward, you should move through open space that is undesired or uncontested. When you move in this way, your movement will not be challenged by others and you will experience success.
Several years ago, I was an asphalt tar contractor in Detroit doing very, very dirty work. It was strange to me this work was so profitable and so easy. Literally no one was interested in doing the job. One of my main projects involved heating up tar to 250+ degrees in a cauldron that I towed behind my truck, using a crack router to clean out cracks on roads and parking lots, and filling the cracks with sand and hot tar.
When I was working for a federal judge in Michigan, I got a call from one of my customers, Tony Randazzo, who owned a giant apartment subdivision in Rochester Hills, Michigan. I’d filled all of the cracks in the apartment subdivision, charging less than half the going rate for this work, giving Tony an outstanding deal. For the next six months, Tony sent me a check every month to pay for the work I had done. Those checks ended up being more than I was receiving for my work with the judge each month. Keep in mind getting the job with the judge had required me to go to college and law school, where I was expected to do well. In addition, I had to get up at 7 a.m. and go to work for the judge five days a week. I also had to deal with office politics and coworkers.
This inconsistency really got me thinking.
When I started practicing law after my clerkship, I frequently saw many coworkers working all night. Most of the people I practiced law with were doing the work just for the money. They had all gone to good law schools, which had required years of hard work. Each year, the law firms I worked for would fly around to law schools and interview and hire scores of hungry law students. There was literally an endless supply of lawyers willing to do the work I was doing. I loved the practice of law, but the fact is there are a LOT of people who want to do it.
When I was working with my hot tar kettle in Detroit, Michigan, I was in serious competition with really only two or three people within a 100-mile radius. In some areas, I was in competition with no one. I literally drove around in a truck playing with fire and tar and listening to classic rock on headphones. I was doing the work I loved and I was paid thousands of dollars a day. Keep in mind working with hot tar is dangerous and something that is scary to a lot of people. You need to know how to keep the tar heated properly and prevent it from catching on fire. Often, it’s very hot outdoors and there are other dangers. However, when I did this work there was practically no competition, and I loved it.
There are tons of people motivated to work blue-collar jobs in Michigan and, at the time, auto plants and suppliers were constantly laying off workers. There were plenty of people who needed work. Nevertheless, I still had very little competition. Had I not chosen to become a lawyer, and continued to operate in this particular niche, I would have made a much better living than most lawyers, and I wouldn’t have been competing with an endless supply of competitors. I would even have had a couple of months off every year since it is impossible to apply the tar when there is snow on the ground!
I was so successful at this job because no one else was interested in doing it – a characteristic common to many good jobs.
In the legal arena, where I used to work, there were so many people interested in competing with me. Inside law firms there was even competition to see who could get the most work! In large cities, perhaps one in every 100 people who start at a large law firm will make partner some day. When these people make partner, they face even greater pressure to get business, and many end up losing their jobs once they have made partner.
If you are experiencing problems in your career, or if you feel like it is extremely hard for you to get ahead, my bet is you’re in a profession or a geographic location where you’re simply competing with too many people. One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to find a place where there is no competition for what you do, and go there. Or, change professions completely and compete in something else. The less competition you have, the better.
One of the easiest ways to get ahead is to move to a market where there is no competition for what you do. For example, say you are an attorney on Wall Street, practicing corporate law, and you just lost your job. You have outstanding skills that are going to be in demand somewhere. You could really blossom if you were in the right atmosphere. Go to a small or medium-sized city where there is less competition! If you go there, you will likely be appreciated more. Your skills will take you further and you will get ahead faster. You will be considered unique for your skills and not just one of hundreds or thousands with the exact same skills. Your hard work and background will make you special and you will stand out.
There are immense benefits to relocating to different geographic regions, or working in a smaller firm or company. Your skills will likely be unique and appreciated and you will not simply be a commodity. Your self confidence will likely improve, and as your self confidence improves you will likely continue to get better and better at what you do. You may even become famous in your field. When you’re in an atmosphere where you’re surrounded by people competing for the same advancement, you could be replaced at any moment.
For example, say you went to Harvard Law School. In New York City, you can find multiple attorneys who went to the same school working in virtually every building in the city. They are everywhere. In Bay City, Michigan, where I clerked for a federal judge, however, I don’t think I ever encountered a single attorney who went to Harvard Law School.
An attorney from Harvard Law School in Bay City, Michigan, would be a complete star in my opinion. He or she would be sought out by businesses and others just based on where he or she went to law school. The political establishment of the city might even try to get him or her nominated for a local seat in the United States Congress. I am not kidding. If the attorney worked on Wall Street for a few years, local companies and businesses would probably consider him or her close to an oracle. The attorney could charge practically anything he or she wanted and would have more business than he or she could handle. He or she would have a large house, probably do things like investing in real estate on the side, and be prosperous in all respects. The attorney would have a great life in Bay City, Michigan.
Conversely, this laid off attorney could sit around in New York looking for a job for months, perhaps. He or she might be living in a relatively small apartment in New York, spending his or her days at Starbucks reading the paper and screwing around on a laptop, exchanging emails about nothing and ostensibly looking for a job. The attorney might become depressed and start going to therapy a couple of times a week. He or she might start writing a book and never complete it. Ultimately, he or she might get a job with a small boutique firm in New York after six months or so, and might only work there for a few months before the firm went out of business.
I hate to sound so bleak, but I have seen scenarios like this so many times it makes me sick. You need to compete where your skills are most valued, and this often means a change of location. When you are competing where your skills are most valued, you feel better about yourself. I think this is the smartest thing anyone can do.
If I were interested in being a United States senator at the age of 30, I would move to South Dakota, not California. It is much easier to achieve your dream in areas where there is less competition.
The people who have the most secure jobs and continually prosper year after year typically do not have a lot of people competing with them. Did you know that morticians make pretty good livings? It is not too hard to find a job as a mortician, and people are always dying. There are lots of jobs to which you can adapt your skills, which will give you security year after year. These are the sorts of jobs you should seek.
There are jobs in every industry that no one else is all that excited about. I wonder if any doctors really go to medical school saying their dream is to become a proctologist. My feeling is they probably realize somewhere along the line isn’t a lot of competition in that specialty, and choose it for that very reason.
Sun Tzu’s advice to “go through unpeopled ground” can change your life and career if you really take the time to think it through. Unless you are confident you can win, you are often best served by pursuing your career in areas and specialties where there is less competition.
This is one of the easiest ways to succeed and it is something far too many people fail to realize.
Focus on Other Geographic Areas to Get Your Job Search Going
October 20, 2008
“The median job search among those winning positions in the third quarter lasted nearly 4.4 months,” up from 3.6 months in the second quarter.
It’s also notable that 13.4 percent of the job seekers ended up relocating to take new positions. That’s up from a first-quarter figure of 8.9 percent, but still lower than the share who relocated in 2006 and most of 2007.
Moving is stressful and expensive, and some people may simply be unwilling to take that step. However, fewer people are relocating, no doubt, due to the state of the housing market. Job seekers eager to move for the right job may find themselves trapped by an inability to sell their homes, and perhaps are even wishing they were renters right now.
What You Will Learn
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One of the reasons it’s taking so much longer for many to find employment is that many areas of the United States have been devastated by the economy, and there are fewer jobs available in those areas. The troubled automotive industry has had a serious effect on the Michigan economy, for example. Regardless of the economic status of the area where you live and work, you may be in a position in which you should consider relocating to find a job. If you are under economic pressure, relocating and getting a job may be a crucial priority for you right now.
Relocating isn’t always an easy decision to make. However, relocating for a job is perfectly normal and is something you should not hesitate to do. This is especially true if you’re living in Detroit or another area of the country where your skills are no longer in demand. Essentially, the entire history of the United States was essentially built around people who relocated here because they felt there were better opportunities.
For most of us, our careers and the time we spend at work take up most of our waking hours. Considering this, you need to be focused on finding an area of the United States or the world where people are seeking and hiring workers with your given skills.
It is extremely important you live in an area where your skills are in demand. Life is in many ways like a game, and so is your career. If you were a fisherman, would you rather spend your career working in a small lake with a few fish or a large ocean with many fish? The more opportunities, and the more competition there is for your skills in your market the better off you will be. You need to put yourself where the action is to survive.
Several years ago I was working at a federal judicial clerkship job in Michigan. In three months, the clerkship would be over and I needed to find a job. Although I already had a job lined up with a New York City law firm, I wanted to get a job in California. I sent a targeted mailing of résumés out to legal employers in California. I meant to send my résumés only to major cities, like Los Angeles and San Diego, but also ended up targeting several small towns by mistake. I received several calls from law firms in small towns, and they all had similar questions:
Why was I applying to a law firm in a small town?
Who did I know in the small town?
Was I also applying to law firms in larger cities?
One of the potential employers from a small town firm called me and asked those questions because he was worried that, if I did not have a connection to the small town, I would simply leave if I did not like the job.
Employers want you to have a connection to the area if you are relocating, because they are concerned you will not have incentive to stick around. They get nervous if you are looking at employers in larger cities as well because they feel like you are less interested in them.
The questions about why I was relocating did not come up as much in larger cities. Employers in cities like New York are generally of the opinion anyone would want to relocate there because New York is New York. People in smaller markets are a little less confident. As a general job search strategy, I would recommend you stress the fact you have a real interest in the company and believe it’s a perfect place for you based on your personal interests, as well as your future career goals.
Generally, employers like to hear you have close family in a given geographic area. If you do not, you may have a significant other or friends there, or perhaps you went to college or grew up there. The point is you want to assure them you have some sort of personal connection to the area. Absent family or friends, you should focus on the company and your sincere interest in them.
As an aside, I want to bring up an important piece of career advice about applying for a position outside of where you currently live. The employer receiving your résumé is going to wonder why you are applying there and not in your own geographic area. You never want to send the message you are unemployable or cannot find a job where you currently live. Employers want to hire people who are “winners” and are employable in all markets. Therefore, you should never approach an employer by telling him or her that you cannot get a job where you live. Prospective employers should believe you are relocating because of reasons related to your personal long-term growth objectives–not because you have been defeated in trying to get a job in your existing market.
In a down market, many people end up stuck with large mortgages and unsold homes. They feel saddled with this and cannot relocate. If you are in a market that is getting worse and worse by the day, you may have to relocate before you sell your home. This is not something that you should be talking about with your potential employer, however.
An employer does not want to feel guilty you may be leaving an unsold home behind. Sharing this sort of information can also hurt you because the employer will suspect you have to return to your hometown to deal with the situation. Keep such personal matters to yourself in your job search. Never give them any possible reason to believe you are not their ideal candidate.
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.