Do any of these job hunting concerns live inside the head of a person near you?
- I’m interested in so many things, I can’t settle on just one.
- If I’m so smart, how come no one is offering me a job?
- I’d do real well on an interview, I just don’t know how to get one.
- I’d get hired if I knew what I wanted to do.
- If I knew what I wanted to do I could get outside my head and go do it.
Let’s start with the first one:
I’m interested in so many things, I can’t settle on just one.
You may have trouble deciding on one career direction because you’re concerned you’ll pick the wrong path and be forever limited by your choice. Instead, select something that you can focus on for the next year or two; evaluate your situation when the time comes, then choose to stay or choose to look. There is no law or contract that binds you to one job or career for life. That may have been true twenty years ago. It’s not true now.
If I’m so smart, how come no one is offering me a job?
You’ve probably been told by your parents, teachers and friends that you’re intelligent, even gifted, and can do anything you want to do. That’s the problem. You can do anything and aren’t drawn to any one thing. When you go on an interview you don’t show any enthusiasm because you don’t feel any. The interviewer picks up on it, and doesn’t feel any enthusiasm about your candidacy. No juice, no offer.
I do real well on an interview. I just can’t get one.
There’s a big difference between self confidence and job search strategy. It sounds like you’ve got plenty of one and not enough of the other. Eighty percent of available jobs aren’t advertised. You find them by plugging into the word of mouth circuit and then start networking. As the word implies, networking enables you to work your way through an interconnected system of contacts, until you reach what you’re looking for: an interview.
The essentials of networking include: contacting people you know personally who share your professional interests; talking with them about your search; describing your strengths and skill sets; asking for ways to connect with people you should meet. Then you ask for introductions and meet with individuals they recommend. And never, ever ask a networking contact to find you a job.
I’d get hired if I knew what I wanted to do.
There are so many people who don’t know what they want to do, it’s a miracle anything gets done. No wonder the total value of goods and services produced is called the gross national product.
There are three ways that, in combination, can help you find what you are best matched to doing:
Self analysis: Look back at your life and the jobs you’ve had: what are the things you’ve enjoyed most and found greatest success doing?
Talk with people who know you best: Seek their insight regarding what they have observed you doing most easily and with greatest enthusiasm.
Career Counseling: Work with professionals trained to take what you know and have learned about yourself, who know the questions to ask, and can provide the feedback and analysis you need to enable you to find your way.
If I knew what I wanted to do I could get out of my head and go do it.
One of the reasons you’ve hesitated for so long has been your quest for the “one right job.” What you really need is to head in the right direction. Like everyone else, you’re bound to stumble. The moment of truth comes with what you’ll do next. People may give you advice. They can’t give you courage. That’s up to you.
Guest Expert:
Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) is an executive and career coach, a Center for Creative Leadership adjunct faculty member, and is certified to administer feedback and psychological instruments. Known for her humor and direct approach, Joyce is an international speaker, weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.
