Public Finance Blog

What can patience and observation do for your next opportunity in your career?  Let’s start with a story to open our eyes.  While visiting my granddaughter the other day, I noticed that she was so preoccupied with what she was doing.  After questioning her, only like a grandfather can do, she shared with me that she was playing her favorite mind game, “Eye Spy.”  For those who are not familiar, the game is played by saying, “I spy with my little eyes something that begins with…[then she says a letter and her little brother has to find that object].”

The Game Fun For Kids, Not So Fun For Candidates

I was amused at how long she could continue to play this game. It dawned on me: that’s exactly what my candidates need to do if they find themselves in the unfortunate situation of looking for a new position.  They have to dedicate the patience to wait it out while searching for that next opportunity.  They need to apply that dedication to the search that they did to their work before they were let go.  Their full-time responsibility now is looking for their next opportunity.  They must be searching literally everywhere for that little bit of information that can potentially open a new door for them.

You Already Know Them…

You may be asking, “Where?”  My answer is the contacts that you have developed over the years already.  They are in your database, or maybe your old emails, or possibly even an old attendance list of a conference you may have attended.  It’s up to you to search and find that connection who can open your next door.  Everyone knows someone who can help introduce them.  It may be as simple as looking through your LinkedIn first and second connections.  The point is that you must dedicate the time to spy with your little eyes the one thing that will propel you to your next opportunity.

Can You Spot The Opportunity?

Opportunities are everywhere, and you just have to reach out to enough people to find them.  You might say to yourself this information is counterintuitive, coming from a recruiter.  Why would a recruiter tell me this and not just say, “Use me”?  The simple answer: this recruiter wants the best for you, and yes, I help a lot of people, but I cannot help everyone with their next opportunity.  In those circumstances where you find yourself out of a position, you must use all your assets, which includes a specialist recruiter, but it also means using your eyes to help make this unemployment conclude faster.  Like my granddaughter applying patience and observation, you too must be patient, and now, through the use of your eagle eyes, you will extricate yourself from the new current situation you find yourself in.

Conclusion

You don’t need a resume to chat with us! If you would like to discuss your options, please reach out for a confidential conversation at 760-477-1284 or email at harlan@hfriedmansearch.com. He can also be reached on LinkedIn. Harlan publishes a blog every Thursday here. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here, which is a compilation of our weekly blogs, so you never miss one. We have also been mentioned in 2025’s Forbes, click HERE to read more.  

About Harlan Friedman, JD & Founding Member, H. Friedman Search LLC. Harlan is a thirty-year veteran Public Finance Banker turned recruiter who specializes in the placement of all levels Public Finance Bankers, Healthcare Bankers, Municipal Advisors, Compliance Officers, Issuers, and Bond Counsels.