Job Search Depression-HOT TODAY/cold tomorrow

Working with job seekers all day long for the past 16 years one theme has started to become apparent and that is the peaks and valleys of job searching. It takes a toll on people lives both professional and personally. I am not a psychologist or a therapist but I coach people all day long. Everyone says you need to keep a positive mental attitude during your job search process, easy to say but hard to do! 

 If the rule of thumb is that for every $10K you would like to make add 1 month to your job search. If you have been in the industry for 10years plus and you are making $85k it could take you 8 months to find a job. Certainly it is much easier for you to find a job when you have 0-5 years of experience and you are only making less than $50K a year. The tough part is for people who have lots of years of experience and great results to find those jobs that will fit your market value and 8 months is a long, long time to be searching for work.

With today’s knowledge based economy they are saying that the average tenure today for technical and/or professional work force is 4-5 years and then people are moving on to other companies. One of my mentors told me that if I have been in a position for more than 5 years what is my problem. I should have contributed and solved the problems necessary to move up or out to my next career challenge. What is tough for me is that there are a lot of people who have been with the same company for 10 years that are starting to get let go or positions have been eliminated. Why? Because they did such a good job that either they are not needed anymore or it is cheaper to bring in someone with less experience. These people are in utter shock and have not job searched or completed a resume in over ten years.

So this blog is for both the job seeker and the job victim: What am I going to experience if I have to search for a job longer than 4 months?

Hot Today and Cold Tomorrow:

One of the biggest job searching challenges that you are going to face, is keeping your emotions in balance. You are going to be dealing with Hiring Managers, HR, Recruiters and even sourcers who are going to qualify you for their position. All of a sudden you will get a lot of activity with companies you would be excited to work for and you are sure that they need your skill and want to hire you because you are high impact talent. Furthermore, all of the job or jobs that you have accomplished made a difference to the ROI of your past employer/s. All of a sudden you have 3-4 opportunities in your hopper, things are great, you tell you significant other, friends or even pass associates that you made it past the first screen or you may make it all the way to 2-3 interviews and all signs are positive.

Then next day you do not hear a thing! No one gets back to you! No one has the stones to tell why you did not get that opportunity you were a fit for. Or why you did not get even a shot at any opportunity within that company. All you remember is that you were told that I like your style or your accomplishments would fit right into what we need here at ABC Company.

All you are left with, are questions like what is wrong with me? Could I have done anything different? What am I going to say to my family or friends that keep asking me how my search is going? Why does this happen to me, I am a great employee? How am I going to take care of my responsibilities (family, bills etc…)? STOP!!!!!!!!

You are not alone this happens to all of us. Why is because most companies are recruiting for what their needs are NOW not what their needs are in the FUTURE. That is why as soon as that company or agency gets their needs met everything drops. You are not a priority any more, right or wrong that’s how things work. As a manager think back on how relieve you were when you had a critical open or need that was filled. When was the last time you thought of the 2nd or 3rd place candidate? What was communicated to them? Companies I feel are not trying to be mean spirited, hurtful or even malicious they maybe short sited. Some recruiters or hiring managers do not have the stones to be honest. But not all! So you do not have anything wrong with you!

1st Rule of Job Search Sanity: Keep your emotions in check and if people ask how the job searches are going, just smile and say “in progress”.

2nd Rule of Job Search Sanity: You are looking for the right opportunity as well as the company is looking for the right employee. The interview or screen needs to go two ways. I am a firm believer what separates us from other talent is our ability to ask intelligent questions. So know your story: Where you came from, what is going on now and where do you want to go for your future. The key to success is that for you to know your story so you can listen to what is being asked answer concisely and quickly so you can ask an intelligent question to see if this is the right company for you.

3rd Rule of Job Search Sanity: for every $10K you want to make add 1 month to your search. Prepare yourself mentally that this could take a long time for you to find the right opportunity. That is ok and you are mentally prepared for this why? Remember the flow charts of companies. If you were a Director or VP there are not a lot of those positions floating around and most likely you were making more than $40k a year. So be patient! If you do not have the cash talk to a contract or temp agency to do some work to bring home the bacon.

4th Rule of Job Search Sanity: Run your job search like your own business. You will need to manage your contacts, interviews, thank you letters and resume submittals like you are in sales. You will have to identify which contacts and companies you want to keep in touch with or websites to look at for opps. I would not rely on the company or recruiter to remember you for all of their opportunities. The people who stay top of mind get the jobs. You do not want to be a stalker though. So you will need to find out how they want to be contacted.

This is all the time I have now so please ask questions if you need any help or information.

Thanks

Joel