I love to help seekers reclaim their sense of purpose and move into fulfilling jobs. I’ve done this myself, and I want to share what I’ve learned with you. Please feel free to reach out to me at ruth@confidentcareersearch.com if you have a question about your job search or feel a mismatch with what you’re doing now. Trust me: Career happiness is possible.
I finally gave in and started watching “Modern Love” on Amazon Prime.
It’s a series based on essays published in the New York Times; essays about love. It’s also a podcast featuring celebrities reading some of these essays. I’ve loved the podcast since its first episode.
In essence, the stories are about the little things that become big things.
Gestures, glances, passing occurrences. Small triumphs that we could pass off as anomalies. Failures that are really steps to victory, even if the protagonists don’t see it right away.
They are things we easily can overlook, but that when we take them together, add up to something powerful.
I relate this to the dramas I see playing out daily with my clients.
They are looking for new jobs or new lines of work. They are engaged in many activities to help them meet their goals. Many of these are mundane and repetitive. Some feel like the act of slogging through mud or paddling against a swift current.
Life gets in the way. Setbacks. Progress feels elusive.
If you are having trouble with your job search; not getting the responses you had hoped for; not getting picked after several rounds of interviews, then it could be time to take a closer look at the progress you actually are making.
Because you likely are moving forward in small ways that will add up to something larger.
The challenge is to realize that it’s the little things; the steps along the way that hold the key.
Here’s what I mean:
I have a client who has just gotten serious about finding a new role.
When he approached me, he was a little lost. He was good at what he had been doing. He just wanted a new challenge.
We started by taking a look at his job history and his personal intentions. Just knowing what they were was a great start, even if he modified them later.
Then, he researched roles he was considering and decided on a particular path.
In this case, he was pivoting industries entirely and changing roles slightly.
We reframed his resume and his related marketing materials, such as his LinkedIn profile, translating his skills to reflect this pivot.
Then, he started talking to his network and to people connected to his target companies. He let his friends know what he was seeking, and he gathered intel on companies of interest.
For open jobs, he is contacting recruiters and hiring managers and let them know he is interested and what he can deliver.
He has confessed to me that some days it feels like a slog. Not everyone gets back to him. Some reject him outright.
And yet, I remind him that he is moving forward.
Every time he meets someone at an event, communicates with a company insider, or tells a friend what he’s interested in, he forms another connection. He creates another conduit through which to discover an opportunity.
Every time he does this, he is conveying his value: The algorithms are seeing him, literally when he posts online and figuratively when he shares his successes with others and when he fuels his own behavior by clarifying for himself what he is trying to achieve.
And these small things are multiplying.
His search is gaining momentum: His new connections are leading him to even more connections.
He has had several initial interviews.
With each one, he has learned more about the roles he is seeking, and the job posters have learned more about him.
He has become a new contact in their databases. They have become part of his network.
As he learns more about industry trends and the directions of his target companies, he can tweak his approach—even look at additional companies he had not considered before.
I remind him that many people are not doing even half of what he is!
Many people are simply submitting applications and waiting. Or they are paralyzed by inaction.
I remind him that little things, like merely stating a goal, then writing it down, then sharing it, add up to big things later.
I remind him that staying grounded and focused, even on days when responses are slow, when it’s a holiday or when he isn’t feeling well, or when he’s tired, will keep him from losing his way.
If you, too, are feeling like you aren’t making any progress reaching your goal, let me reassure you: Something is going to happen. You just have to keep working it.
Even when the economy is shifting, layoffs are happening, the news seems bleak, and the pundits are telling you the sky is falling, you can turn your attention to your plan.
I challenge you to observe what you are doing each day to meet your goal.
First, you have set your intention to get a great new job.
From there,
1. You have shifted your mindset. Now, you recognize that there is a path to achieve your aims.
2. You are meeting new people, whether in person or online.
3. You are starting to see opportunities you didn’t see before, because you have made the time and space and are paying attention.
4. You are identifying new sources of information that you weren’t seeing before and are accessing them.
All of this represents movement forward. You just have to keep exploring, inquiring, pursuing, deciding, one small step at a time.
Most job searches take time. (I know. It’s tough.) And if you’re changing roles or industries, it will take more time.
But each action is a building block to another action.
Each result is step toward another result.
Until one day, the final step is a job offer.
Think of it like dating. You don’t just walk outside (or “swipe right”) and then find your dream partner. It takes time. Sometimes you take a lot of detours. Sometimes you have to regroup entirely. (I could write a lot about this!)
It’s hard to see that progress is happening when you’re living the story. But hopefully, if you keep at it, keep working the plan, keep following the path that emerges, one day you will arrive at a place where you can rest comfortably for a while.
It’s life. It’s love. It’s the career path.
The secret is to never give up.