You Are NOT Alone.
It is tough to believe you are not alone in this job search process. There are literally millions of individuals who are looking for a new or different job at any given time. LITERALLY MILLIONS! Of course that means you are NOT alone in the process....but maybe you are. Let's think about it.
Let's say there are 2 million people looking for a job right now. How many live where you do? If we divide 2,000,000 by 50 (the number of states in the US) then there are 40,000 people looking in your state. How many large cities are there? Let's say an average of 3 in every state. Divide 40,000 by 3 and you get about 14,000 people looking in your city. Now there are about 30 different career fields so divide 14,000 by 30 and you get roughly 466 people who are looking for a job in the same field as you. Look outside your window, because they are out there; you are not alone.Now you may wish you were alone and there were five jobs to choose from.
I think we are REALLY talking about is the idea of feeling discouraged and alone as we are looking for a new job. We are all sending resumes to the job boards, company websites and our friends and family for job leads. We couple job search activities with our current job (or if unemployed worrying about not working), dealing with family issues, dating our mate or trying to find one, dealing with the car, the house/apartment, vacations, birthdays, anniversaries, cell phones, bills, personal appearance, health, and on and on it goes. Life is busy but do we make it that way so we don't have to deal with reality?
In reality our quest for a new job is simple. We are looking for a satisfying career where we can make a good/great living. We do feel alone because we are the only ones that know if we have made it or not. Many times we ignore our own realities so we can make sure others don't see that we don't have it all together. Time to STOP PRETENDING and get real with ourselves.
Getting real means asking others what they see in us; looking for the good, the bad and the ugly. If we learn how others perceive us, we may start to find subtle cues a potential employer might pick up on. We may not mean to project a certain negative image but inadvertently do.
Should we struggle through life by ourselves? Many times we try to but in reality, those around us are affected as well. So it is virtually impossible to be alone in this process, even if we try to. Try and bring at least one new person into your job search. Pick someone you respect but may not normally not ask advice of. Ask them out for coffee or invite them over. Ask them the following two questions:
1. What do you think my best two qualities are?
2. What two things do you think I really need to work on?
Ask this person to be brutally honest with you and let them know you will NOT overreact. You want to grow as a person and you need their opinion. See where the conversation takes you. Don't hide from the truth, embrace it and it will "set you free."
Don't stay alone when searching for a new job. Open up to others and see if they will open up more to you.
I am out of the office today hanging at Starbucks drinking another tall, half-caf boring cup of coffee. The people at Starbucks probably think I am weird. I buy a tall coffee with change every time. I do this because I have a had time paying $1.73 for a cup of coffee when I can make a better one at home for about $.45. I guess $1.73 is a small price to pay for "office space".
Why do I pay with change? Glad you asked, I do it because I don't really feel like I am spending money on it. I pile a bunch of change up in my 4Runner and spend it whenever I want a splurge in life. Sometimes it is coffee, sometimes a muffin or better a $2.50 scoop of mint choc. chip icecream. My wife thinks I am nuts but knows I am a bit tight with my money. Being tight should sustain me for the long haul. At least that is what I tell myself.
Let's get started!
Jeff
Let's say there are 2 million people looking for a job right now. How many live where you do? If we divide 2,000,000 by 50 (the number of states in the US) then there are 40,000 people looking in your state. How many large cities are there? Let's say an average of 3 in every state. Divide 40,000 by 3 and you get about 14,000 people looking in your city. Now there are about 30 different career fields so divide 14,000 by 30 and you get roughly 466 people who are looking for a job in the same field as you. Look outside your window, because they are out there; you are not alone.Now you may wish you were alone and there were five jobs to choose from.
I think we are REALLY talking about is the idea of feeling discouraged and alone as we are looking for a new job. We are all sending resumes to the job boards, company websites and our friends and family for job leads. We couple job search activities with our current job (or if unemployed worrying about not working), dealing with family issues, dating our mate or trying to find one, dealing with the car, the house/apartment, vacations, birthdays, anniversaries, cell phones, bills, personal appearance, health, and on and on it goes. Life is busy but do we make it that way so we don't have to deal with reality?
In reality our quest for a new job is simple. We are looking for a satisfying career where we can make a good/great living. We do feel alone because we are the only ones that know if we have made it or not. Many times we ignore our own realities so we can make sure others don't see that we don't have it all together. Time to STOP PRETENDING and get real with ourselves.
Getting real means asking others what they see in us; looking for the good, the bad and the ugly. If we learn how others perceive us, we may start to find subtle cues a potential employer might pick up on. We may not mean to project a certain negative image but inadvertently do.
Should we struggle through life by ourselves? Many times we try to but in reality, those around us are affected as well. So it is virtually impossible to be alone in this process, even if we try to. Try and bring at least one new person into your job search. Pick someone you respect but may not normally not ask advice of. Ask them out for coffee or invite them over. Ask them the following two questions:
1. What do you think my best two qualities are?
2. What two things do you think I really need to work on?
Ask this person to be brutally honest with you and let them know you will NOT overreact. You want to grow as a person and you need their opinion. See where the conversation takes you. Don't hide from the truth, embrace it and it will "set you free."
Don't stay alone when searching for a new job. Open up to others and see if they will open up more to you.
I am out of the office today hanging at Starbucks drinking another tall, half-caf boring cup of coffee. The people at Starbucks probably think I am weird. I buy a tall coffee with change every time. I do this because I have a had time paying $1.73 for a cup of coffee when I can make a better one at home for about $.45. I guess $1.73 is a small price to pay for "office space".
Why do I pay with change? Glad you asked, I do it because I don't really feel like I am spending money on it. I pile a bunch of change up in my 4Runner and spend it whenever I want a splurge in life. Sometimes it is coffee, sometimes a muffin or better a $2.50 scoop of mint choc. chip icecream. My wife thinks I am nuts but knows I am a bit tight with my money. Being tight should sustain me for the long haul. At least that is what I tell myself.
Let's get started!
Jeff
Labels: Personal Growth
posted by Jeff at
2:21 PM
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