A few times each month I get a good news announcement from one of our members that begins with: “Please stop the newsletter, I am starting a new job on Monday.”

It is at these times I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Starting a new job on Monday and already this individual is ready to disconnect themselves from our august body. Gosh, don’t you think he/she should at least wait until some of those paychecks clear? Sometimes they provide their new business card information, but sometimes they don’t. When they do, they sometimes conveniently leave off their new office phone number. In effect they are saying: “It was nice knowing you when I needed you.”

I try not to be offended. I know the electronic weight of our newsletter is considerable.

Still, the truth is that I am not offended. Rather I feel sorry for the individual in question for being so short sighted about today’s job market and their need to stay connected to their fellow members of The FENG.

If you are working, there is no need to read the daily newsletter word for word. You are even allowed from time to time to delete newsletters that you haven’t had time to read. The best approach I can suggest is to at least read the evening’s editorial, the good news announcements, and most importantly, the requests for assistance.

The FENG is a deep well of knowledge and experience. We have gotten where we are through our general willingness to help one another. If you receive help in any way shape or form during your search from your fellow members, I hope you will feel the obligation to “pay back” by letting others know you are actually available. Perhaps you can even take the time to call a few new members each week and welcome them into the organization.

They say the best things in life are free. Our mutual friendship is one of those things. We share and we care not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is seriously beneficial to us and our careers to stay connected, networked if you will, to other members.

This way you won’t be like the members I hear from each week who have let their email addresses go bad because they have started new jobs and write to me to “rejoin.” The FENG is one of those organizations you join for the rest of your career.

If you haven’t allowed our little circle of friends to seep into your soul, give it a try. You will find that the warmth of the relationships you will encounter more than make up for the “annoyance” of receiving a daily message from the “Chairman.”

All jobs are temporary. Just look at your own resume. In today’s world, no one is permanently working, they are just between searches.

Change your philosophy and you will find that on some Monday when you find yourself “back in the market,” you won’t be starting from zero with a severe Excedrin headache.

Regards, Matt