It’s bad enough to be job-hunting, but the daily doom-and-gloom news reports are the kicker. If you’re in a job search and overwhelmed by the negative news on every inch of screen and newsprint in your life,you’re not alone.
Here are five reasons to feel better about your job search and shove some of the hype to the back burner:
Earnings Are Over
Lots of companies had to shed workers to improve their fourth-quarter earnings, but plenty of them are finding that they can’t serve customers without bodies on board. Look for more job openings to crop up during the spring.
Training Pays Off
Athletes train for weeks or months before seeing a change in their
results, and then one day hit a new personal best — coaches call it
the Invisible Power Curve. Job-seekers can experience the same thing. The more experience we get interviewing, writing customized cover letters, and researching employers, the better we get at all these things. If we’re learning, then our chance of getting a job improves for each successive position we pursue.
All Job-Seekers Are Not Equal
I look at resumes all day long, and I’m sorry to say that tons of
them are studded with typos and misspellings. That’s a shame for
those candidates, but good for you if you’re the person who watches those picky and critical details.
Your Network Is Growing
If you’re letting old and new friends know about your job search,
your network is growing (even as you sleep!). The more people who know about your job search (and specifically what you’re looking for), the better. It’s frustrating to sit by as weeks and months elapse in your job search, but if you’re cultivating your network,the passing time also builds your cadre of new-job ambassadors.
You Are More Than Your Resume
If the most common refrain of late ’08 was, “Oh no, I’m getting laid
off,” then the second-most-common one has got to be “But I didn’t
love that job, anyway.” A job search is a great way to home in on
what you’re good at and love to do. When you get clear about those two items, you’ll have built the first two legs of your job-search stool. The third leg is the answer to the question “Which of the things I love to do and am good at will employers pay for?”
There’s a lot more to the working world than what’s on your resume already. This is a great time to think about new outlets for your talents. You deserve to have a next job that will do more than pay the bills — don’t you?
by Liz Ryan
lizinboulder@grouply.com