Motivation Monday Choices

Motivation Monday Choices Having choices is better than feeling like you dont have any options. What can you do to ensure you have options during your job search? Fish On! During your job search, you want the opportunity to chose the best possible job. Heres a little side story. I love to fish and when I was younger, there would be times I didnt put my line in the water because I was afraid of what I might catch. It was a big lake and there were big fish in there. Yes, every anglers dream is to land a jumbo fish, but I was still afraid. What if it was too big? What if it had huge teeth? My fears stopped me from putting my line in the water. I can hear my dads voice now you cant catch any fish if your line isnt in the water! So what does having your line in the water mean for a job seeker? It means you are doing all of these things: Applying for jobs when you meet more than 50% of the stated qualifications Posting your resume on job boards Entertaining opportunities presented by 3rd party recruiters Reaching out to recruiters Monitoring target company job boards Networking with everyone you know (and even those you dont) Volunteering If you arent doing ALL these things then you dont have your line in the water and you will certainly miss out on opportunities. Numbers Talk Stay focused on what you want to do, but be realistic about the quantity of potential opportunities that exist. If the type of job you want is held by only one person in a company and the tenure is usually 10 years, you need to diversify, expand, or relocate. This is a numbers game, plain and simple. You may be thinking, how do I know the answer to this? My response is, by talking to people in your industry. Create Chances for Choices Never turn down the opportunity to interview. You need to learn more about the job. Never assume that what has been posted in the job description is wholly accurate. Also, think long and hard before you remove yourself from the interview process. You never know what could happen if you stick it out. The company may create a job for you that you would really love. The interviewer may introduce you to someone they know outside their company for a better/more appropriate opportunity. The interviewer may know about a different job coming along in the future and may decide to bring you on board in advance so they dont lose you. However, if you drop out too early and they dont get to know you well enough, these options probably wont appear. Stick it out and get the gosh darn offer. Then decide what you want to do. Similarly, if you receive and accept an offer, do not cancel upcoming interviews. Take the interview at all costs because you never know what the job may be or what they may want. You may like it even better! And then you have a really nice problem! So how will you create more options and choices for yourself this week?   Image by  ursonate