Looking for a job is a full time job. It will ultimately produce some of the most intense career ups and downs and it’s easy to find yourself discouraged on many levels.
It used to be that you found an opening, applied, interviewed and got an offer. Times have changed and there seems to be more competition for openings complicated the entire process.
Early in my career I remember anxiously waiting for a job offer that I really really wanted. I planned to relocate back to California from Seattle, but I had to get a job there first before quitting my current one.
The company I interviewed with made private label soaps and lotions for large corporations. I knew it was the perfect path for me to take and the location was perfect. I wanted it so badly.
When I didn’t hear from them on the day promised, I was beside myself with what to do. I paced, ate chocolate and jumped at every call I received. It was three days of waiting until I finally picked up the phone to follow up with them.
I didn’t get the job.
Words cannot describe the disappointment at that moment but thankfully I had been coached by a mentor to ask “why” when you hear that you weren’t selected to hire. The HR manager’s reasoning made sense, the person who did the job a year ago wanted to come back. They would fit right into the role without any training. It still hurt.
These are the times when you have to pick yourself up and figure out a way to stay “inspired”. It’s easy to let disappointment rule, but you have to get going, stay focused and keep trying. If you let it get you down it will be counterproductive.
I remember calling my dad long distance. He said some really great things that I really needed to hear to keep forging ahead. It was cliché, but he was right:
“When one door closes another door opens.”
Shortly after our conversation, I received a more attractive job offer from a software company that I interviewed with in California that would change my life for the better. Keeping my chin up despite the rejection kept me from not giving up. It all worked out in the end, but I knew I needed emotional support to get through it.
Recently on the job hunt myself and in need of a little pick me up, a close friend invited me out to dinner. At the end of our meal the fateful Fortune Cookie arrived.
Mine read:
“Your careful nature will bring you financial success”
How appropriate and what great timing this little cookie came. I was inspired! I have the fortune taped to my computer.
If you don’t have a solid support system in place, make one. Whether it’s a mentor, career coach or just a solid group of people that can cheer you up or give you good advice it is another important aspect of job hunting. Short term, it will help you get a job and long term it will help you grow your career. It’s just as important to be on top of your game. Nail that job with help from a professional; try out 360′s Job Interview Coaching. It’s one-on-one help that’s affordable, customized to suit your needs.
How about we go out and eat Chinese food and read your fortune together?
What a great post. I think we have all been in the position of hoping for a job that didn’t materialize.
Many years ago, I remember coming very close to an offer I really wanted and was told the HR person got very sick and it was put on hold. The next position I did get soon after was where I met my husband. Things happen for a reason sometimes.