Job-hunting is not a science; it is an art.
Some job-hunters know instinctively how to do it; in some cases, they were born knowing how to do it. Others of us sometimes have a harder time with it, but fortunately there is help, coaching, counselling, and advice—online and off.
Job-hunting is always mysterious. Sometimes mind-bogglingly mysterious. You may never understand why things sometimes work, and sometimes do not.
There is no “always wrong” way to hunt for a job or to change careers. Anything may work under certain circumstances, or at certain times, or with certain employers. There are only degrees of likelihood of certain job-hunting techniques working or not working. But it is crucial to know that likelihood.
There is no “always right” way to hunt for a job or to change careers. Anything may fail to work under certain circumstances, or at certain times, or Fact: You interviewed with two employers (or six, or twelve) and they wouldn’t hire you. ‘
Fact: “Employers” are individuals, as different from one another as night and day. “Employers” span a wide range of attitudes, wildly different ideas about how to hire, a wide range of ways to conduct hiring interviews, and as many different attitudes toward handicaps as you can possibly think of. You cannot possibly predict the attitude of one employer from the attitude of another. All generalizations about “employers” (including those in this book) are just mental conveniences.
Fact: There are millions of separate, distinct, unrelated employers out there with very different requirements for hiring. Unless you look dirty, People change jobs for a variety of reasons. Some do it to advance their careers and others are motivated by the prospect of making more money. It’s common for people to move on when they are bored, unchallenged, and even when they find that they simply can’t get along with some co-workers. Being passed over for promotion, feeling overworked, or knowing that people in other companies are being paid more to do the same work are also reasons I hear regularly. These are all valid reasons to move on. But in some cases the stated reasons often mask other, unstated reasons. One of my goals in writing this book is to help you discover the real reasons why you may want to
Try to answer what’s actually happening to you and how that varies from what you wish was really happening.
• When you talk about your career, how do you sound to others? This kind of self-analysis isn’t easy. You may find it easier to ask a trusted friend for his or her comments on how you sound. You’re looking for words like enthusiastic, disappointed, discouraged, excited. Forget any deep analysis, just look for the high and low markers that punctuate your comments.
• What do you see yourself doing a year from now? Five years from now? Answer in terms of both your hopes and actual plans.
• How do you rate your career satisfaction so far? The easiest way to do this is by creating a scale and giving your level a number. Use a range that has an actual midpoint. This means picking an odd-numbered scale. I’d suggest 1 to 9, with one being “awful,” five being “okay,” and 9 being “great.” Don’t be surprised as the number you select now changes from chapter to chapter. You will be learning a lot that will encourage you to look at your career from a different perspective.
