Have you ever known anyone to say, “I’m having a wonderful time searching for a new job…I’m just loving every minute of it!”?  In my experience, I have found this view of a job search to be very uncommon.  Instead, I have found that many see a job search as a sort of punishment to be endured with the hopes that they will end it ASAP!!  While recently scanning through Howard Figler’s book, The Complete Job-Search Handbook, I came upon his writing on this subject.  He spoke in a similar vein about the 1% of the population who seem to have job opportunities dropped right into their laps while the other 99% have to seek out employment opportunities.  He spoke of how those 99% can tend to see job searching as “the curse of the employment misfit”.  He offers an alternative view that an extended job search is actually a blessing in disguise.  A few of the blessings, as listed in his book, are as follows:

• The curse of having to make the rounds of many employers, endure many interviews, and read numerous career materials before you decide becomes the blessing of reaching a large number of professional people who are acquainted with you and your work and can thus serve as your present and future contacts.

• The curse of having to explain yourself to everyone, justify your reasons for even wanting to talk about career matters, becomes the blessing of having the skills to portray yourself clearly, creatively, and in terms that are marketable without being pretentious or self-conscious.

• The curse of taking on a task that seems to be a job in itself becomes the blessing of learning that most elements of the career search are already entwined in your daily routine of work and play and need only be improved or emphasized by a more conscious and focused effort on your part.

Now I don’t know about you, but I felt a power boost just reading these bullets.  They serve as a reminder that learning and practicing career exploration and job search skills can offer a sense of security and self-assurance that will support you with your employment search and career transition efforts. 

I’ll be delivering a free seminar on Monday, October 19th, entitled Overcoming Obstacles in a Tight Job Market.  I invite you to join me as we explore solutions to the challenges that often come with the employment search process.  NHHEAF is sponsoring this seminar to support our local community with their job search and career transition efforts.  The seminar will be held from 6 - 7:30pm in the NHHEAF Conference Center  located at 3 Barrell Court in Concord, NH – register today by calling (800)525-2577, ext. 143!

Until next time…

Sue Posluszny
www.careeroptions4me.com

P.S. For more information about me and my qualifications, please click here.