Career Cube Blog

People who are job hunting tend to be very passive sometimes: posting resumes on the job boards instead of combing them every few days; letting recruiters contact them instead of finding a recruiter that can make things happen; being too optimistic about a job prospect, saying “I might as well check it out - why not?” and then you end up saying “I knew that. Why did I bother?”; wondering why so much time has gone by with so few results.

Everyone could be probably twice as pro-active as they currently are. Instead of waiting for openings to find you, you need to be looking for the openings.

Finding your perfect job is about choice (seems to be a frequent theme of mine, doesn’t it!) It’s about the choice to apply - or not. It’s about the choice to accept an interview - or not. It’s about the choice to return for a second when you’re invited to do so - or not. It’s not as much about whether you want to accept the offer or not, because by the time you get to that stage - if you’ve been doing your homework - you ought to know if you want to be that far along in the game. And if you don’t, then you should have cut out earlier.

Finding your perfect job is not about putting more eggs in your basket as your search goes on, it’s about taking them out of your basket.

We’re back to why I carp so often on the importance of knowing who you are and what you want. You must know who you are, what motivates you, what factors are important enough to be firm on and on which ones you’re willing to compromise. You must know, for instance, if you function better in a large environment - whether or not it’s corporate,or a non-profit environment, a team one, or one in which you’re required to motivate yourself in order to perform. You do this by examining your previous jobs - what you liked and didn’t like, what worked or didn’t work, and why.

You can’t go looking if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Not only that, but you’ll wait for it to come to you. Some of you may be saying, “Wait! I contacted some recruiters!” and “I did some networking!” or “I’ve answered some ads!” But that’s not enough - and while it’s more difficult when you’re employed, when you’re unemployed you have nothing but time. And finding a job can easily be a full-time job in itself.

Once you know what you’re looking for, then start piling eggs in your basket. Comb the job boards, research some search firms that specialize in your discipline, contact and choose some recruiters, network with your co-workers from previous jobs, contact employers at companies in the area that seem attractive - introduce yourself, ask for advice, see if they have any suggestions or connections.

You find things that you wouldn’t have known about if you’d waited for everything to come to you. You become energized instead of discouraged. And as you learn more about the personality of each company, the management style of each hiring authority, the description of each job, you make the decision to leave the egg in the basket or take it out. But the point is, if it doesn’t fit, you’re making the choice to take it out, rather than the company making the choice for you.

Obviously if something comes along that appears to fit your profile, follow it up. But my point is alot of opportunities from which to choose isn’t a groovy thing when few of them are viable. So don’t wait around to see which of those iffy things come through. Chuck it over your shoulder and get after finding what you want!

Change is an anathema to most people. It’s scary and it’s uncomfortable. When you’re sitting around being passive in your job search - especially if you think you’re being active - you don’t have to think about what if you made the wrong decision, what if you don’t like the job you take, what if you become unhappy with the new company, and “Oh, do I miss that job i had five years ago! I never should have left it!”

But in fact, that’s a fallacy. The only thing being passive about job hunting does is ensure that your fears become actualized. To avoid those fears coming true, you need to get out there and make it happen. The process may be scary, but the result is a relief. And the result is with you far longer than the process is.

So instead of being passive, be pro-active and aggressive. Instead of throwing eggs into your basket, know what you want so that you can throw them out. Instead of becoming inert because you’re afraid of the potential results, eliminate them by thinking of ways to discover hidden opportunities so that you get the result you want.

The only one controlling the process is you. The only one responsible for finding your perfect job is you. The only one who has to live with the outcome is you. So it’s your choice: do you want to do it the average way most people do it? Or do you want to do the opposite?

by Judi Perkins

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