I have a friend who has been unemployed for over three years. He is a good man who had a series of events derail his personal and professional life. After his divorce he remained 100% dedicated to raising his daughter, and he is a great dad. His ex-wife never skipped the chance to remind him that he was failing in the money department, but he never missed his child support or any time he could spend with his kid. His daughter will always know how much he lovers her!
To make it work he had to move in with his mother, which is hard for a 40-something man, but relocation for employment was not an option. He had a small geographic territory where he had to remain to be present for his daughter, and the job market in that area has been very tight for several years.
While it has been hard, he never gave up trying to find ways to land the next opportunity.
Today he starts his new job as Director of Sales for a mid-sized company.
The business is a service company with strong history serving their market. The average time an employee has been with the company is over nine years. It is the perfect job for this man, and has room for advancement.
After mailing out thousands of resumes, networking like crazy, working with experts, hundreds of interviews (he was #2 for about a dozen jobs), countless phone calls and emails, and more prayer than you can imagine, ..... he found the job listing on Craig's List.
The lesson for everyone is NEVER GIVE UP. Those who get burned out and rationalize that there are no jobs will never find the gem. So much is said about "the best way" to find a job, but he did everything he could, and kept turning over every rock. For three years he kept looking.
100% of those who give up during a job search do not find jobs. Even in a bad economy there are jobs, and those who find them are the ones who work hard to uncover the opportunities. There is no "Job Fairy" who will put an offer letter under your pillow.
Many of the opportunities for which he applied over the years came via networking, some through head-hunters, other from job boards (like Monster and Craig's List), etc.... He tried it all over and over and over.
Was he bummed to find so few job openings? Was he depressed about coming in second for so many opportunities? Was it hard and often embarrassing? Yes, Yes, Yes. But he kept trying.
And today he begins a great job. Congratulations. I know he reads this blog, and I want him to know I am very happy for him... and very proud of him. He has always been a good guy and a great friend..... He deserves this chance! His boss may not know it, but he has the most enthusiastic Director of Sales in the world!!!
Have A Great Day.
thom singer
4 comments:
Thank you for this post. I needed to be reminded not to give up in my own hunt for a job.
Two ways to stay motivated in a job hunt. (1) Stay away from those negative people that tell you there are no jobs, the economy is bad or you have no skills, etc., and (2) Have a job hunting plan where you celebrate small victories (made X number of networking calls this week, or research uncovered X possible opportunites this week). Attitude is everything-employers want to hire positive people not whiners.
Hi Thom!
For my similar story, take a look at "When 887 Applications Equal One Job Offer" http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/career-transitions/201008/when-887-applications-equal-1-job-offer
No doubt about it, job search takes persistence, discipline, and lots of encouragement.
Jeff
This is exactly right. A job is not going to just land in your lap! You have to stay motivated. I suggest developing specific, tangible action steps for yourself each week and each day so that you feel like you have a sense of accomplishment. When you feel like you are making progress, you are less likely to get depressed and frustrated. Even if they are small action steps that make you feel good by accomplishing them that is a positive step in the right direction. Try listening to music. You can create a motivational playlist on your IPOD that you listen to every day. Exercise regularly. Meet with your friends who are currently employed to keep your spirits up. Attend networking events for job seekers. This is a MUST, but can sometimes become depressing if everyone is unemployed. Attend networking events that have employed people in attendance as well.
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