Whether you are feeling the pressure to move to a new job. Things really becoming too uncomfortable to stay and you can feel your
life ticking away. Or because your current position is coming to an end. Panic or denial often sets in.
Denial in facing the reality; that the job you are in is sucking the life out of you but you are perhaps fearful that wherever you go you might feel the same.
The panic that you need to find a new position and have perhaps underestimated how long it can take. Identify a job, apply, get called to an interview (and called back again perhaps) and then wait for the result. That is if you are successful in all stages.
Just listening to hearing how tricky it is out there can bring on anxiety; so what is called for is a cool head and some clear thinking. This is s moment for a cold practical process that you do all you can to remove emotion from. The emotional part is invariably our downfall, so clear away all the ‘what if’s’, and the potential for negative outcomes. Prepare yourself solidly and expect that there will be knockbacks, but that is all part of the learning, and when that is in place, bring back the emotional responses that make you who you are. So for any job you want, whether you have identified it or not yet, you will need
- A strong CV – two pages, lots of white space, not a rehash of job descriptions, and written in the first person using language easily understood (so no specific sector references)
- A real presence on LinkedIn – this is absolutely where employers go to look (whether they say so or not). A well presented and engaging profile has been known to win interest and an interview and they will Google you, so a good profile will show up straight away.
- Time spend understanding what you excel at and who you want to work for – and then research on the right sort of companies for you.
All too often I start to work with people after they have used a scattergun approach feeling ‘this is so straightforward and I am an intelligent able person I must be able to do this myself’.
The scattergun approach rarely works because
- In being non-specific you make yourself hard to place (they would like to help if they only knew what you wanted!).
- You are flattering no one by making it clear that yours is a general application (think in terms of dating here – if they will go out with everyone do you want them?)
- I absolutely know that confidence is eroded by continually being rejected, even by employers you do not like and for jobs, you are overqualified or unsuitable for. All we hear is the NO, and of course, that rejection is further complicated because we do not know why we got the rejection. Poor CV? Rubbish profile on LinkedIn? Overqualified? Under qualified? Not very good at interview (if you get that far)?Yes, you can ask, but there are too many people out there who are too anxious to give any meaningful feedback, for personal reasons, or for fear of criticism of their process and the time it all takes.
All too often in this state of anxiety, we jump for what is offered rather than what would be the best fit for us. I would urge you strongly to take some time – even if you feel the time is against you – and think with clarity what company or role has the potential to be the best fit for you?
As ever you know where we are
Angela
