Many times the biggest skill job hunters learn during a transition is how to be relentless. Job hunters who realize this understand that no one is going to “get them a job” – not even recruiters (that’s not what recruiters do). The only person who is going to work as hard as the job hunter herself is she.
Most people have an issue with endurance during extended transitions. One tip in getting through it is to offer yourself a challenge. Tell yourself, “prove to me you can keep going regardless of how you feel.” Each time you feel down, it’s an opportunity to win this challenge. I’ve done this and it pushed me harder.
I relate the perseverance of the job hunt to running. A friend of mine told me he’d run if he saw one person smiling while they ran. “Runners are always grimacing,” he said.
“Well yeah,” I thought. Running pretty much sucks. You don’t run because it’s all bunny rabbits and lollypops. You run because it’s cheaper than a gym or bike and it helps your health, not because you get warm fuzzies out of it.
The thing about running is if you go at the right pace, the only thing stopping you from going farther is whether you take the next step. What’s the next step in you job search?
If you spend a good deal of time around people who are in career transition, you’ve probably heard people say that they would do whatever it takes to land their next position. We may have even said it ourselves. But how many of us allow ourselves to wear pajamas all day, sleep in until 11am, watch TV until 2pm, and by the end of the day find that we’ve spent more time surfing the internet than looking for work?
If we’re honest with ourselves, and we are really interested in getting a job wouldn’t we be up and working by 8 or 8:30? Hiring managers are in their offices by then, shouldn’t we be working?
We’ve all had jobs we hated. We went into work anyway, didn’t we? Whether we liked our boss or not, whether we liked our jobs or not, we went in (on time) and made it through the day one way or another. Many times, we were somewhat productive too!
Well now you’re your own boss. Are you a good boss or a bad one? Because, I’ll bet even your worst manager was able to motivate you to get you out of bed on time.
The most important thing we can do is to keep going. Sure, we know we can take a day off, but that day won’t turn into a long break.
Keep going. This work will pay off. We just have to keep going.
You never know what’s working in your favor at any particular moment. You never know what opportunity is behind the next door. You never know what great things may lie ahead until you get there. And the only way to get there is to keep going.
Sometimes we get to a point where we feel like we’ve tried everything and nothing is progressing our search. If this is you, contact us today about career transition assistance or career transition coaching.
