Appropriately, I hit the wall today because I totally overdid it yesterday and I'm running on empty. Yesterday I went to the gym in the morning, met with my coach, informational interview on hotel industry (alumni connection), then over to Queens for coaching best practices sharing with another alumni, coach client on phone, then phone meeting with prospective group client, then home office to catch up on emails and blog/tweet, then back to the city for HR Networking event, then coach my client, then head home to send client homework for the week. Day started with gym at 5am and ended with emails to clients and new HR networking contacts at midnight. And who said jobhunting is a full-time job?
Today I'm dialing back on the actions. I did however identify another target company and went on their site to create a jobhunt profile. Thankfully, I have all the names, address, phone numbers and contact info for past supervisors at my last few companies, other referrals (name, phone, emails) and past salary information on a one sheet document. They asked for all of that on this job site. Took 45 minutes to fill out their profile information. Organized information is key for the jobhunt.
I really do need to do a spreadsheet of all my contacts...
STEP 8---When you hit the wall
Know when you're working on one of those long-term projects, that requires hours and hours over weeks or months? Like a marathon, there's usually a point at which you hit "the wall." It feels like you can go on no more. You want to give up, throw in the towel. If I'm running four miles (which I rarely do--blessings to endurance runners), I get winded after the first mile. If I muster the courage to push through that first feeling of giving up, I find a second wind that carries me through to the four miles. I'm tempted at times to walk, or to turn around and say I tried.
Obviously, you're expecting me to say again, do your jobhunt with support. Bolles from "What Color is Your Parachute" suggests you have at least THREE people support you.
A. One person you know is a taskmaster and will call you out when you're throwing in the towel for no good reason.
B. One who's tactical and can ask you key questions when you might need to change direction, work smarter, take a strategic break, ask for something you're afraid to ask for. This second person is thoughtful and perceptive. Uncannily intuitive.
C. The third person is a warm, fuzzy teddy bear in spirit. This is someone who can give you a hug. This is the person you could just cry with in frustration and they'll just be there with you and feel no NEED to give advice, suggestions, admonishment, or deep questions. They can tolerate your yelling and tantrums. They are great at loving you for you.
Now of course people who support you may have all those qualities, but you might want to contract with at least three people (informally of course) to serve these distinct functions. Just be sure that you'll be able to get this from a portfolio of folks. No one person can be all this for you. Those in relationships, it's suggested that you find other people and diversify your support. Leaning on a life partner for this support can test your relationship UNNECESSARILY.
You might want to find a jobhunt buddy: someone else who's looking right now. Support each other with daily or weekly check-ins to keep each other on target with actions, and to get feedback. My coaching groups meet weekly for an hour and create great traction. It's refreshing to hear someone else go through the same concerns, and surprisingly solutions are more easily discoverable with diverse viewpoints at once. One on one career coaching is good for those with unique schedules.
So that's people. I alluded to an important thing above. Pace yourself. If you overdo the jobhunt one day, ease up the next time. Give yourself a sustainable pace to jobhunt. Rumor has it that it takes one month for each $10,000 that you want to make in annual salary to get the job. I have no idea how "they" came up with that calculation, suffice to say, think long haul. Obviously, some people land the first thing the apply for and have a job in four days from the day they dust off the resume. And I say mazeltov. For the rest of us, it takes patient time.
Put up at your home desk space a goal for yourself around your career. It helps you focus on the finish. It could be the job description, a timeline (be flexible...maybe a range), and your target companies. Refer to that often when you get stuck in the weeds of individual steps. Include what you're qualitatively working towards: e.g. "a healthier work environment, work-life balance, greater use of my passion skillsets, less use of my burn-out skillsets." This can help motivate you through the mundane, repetitive actions, and the rejections which are par for the course.
Set up rewards for yourself. A museum hour if I do 10 applications. A chocolate treat (careful!) for a day's work well done. A walk in the local park after reading the Wall Street Journal. Stretch away from computer after each 1/2 hour of staring at the screen, etc. The body responds to rewards with renewed energy.
Take a break. You can give yourself a day off. The rest of the day. An hour at 3pm. Listen to your system. Powering through can be the worst choice, especially if you then notice you're making careless mistakes (spelling in a cover letter, for e.g.) or things are taking much longer than normal.
I've taken to naming the "character" who shows up when I'm feeling lousy about myself or my prospects. The character, "Hypocrite" prides himself as a realist and says things like, "well, you know, there are no jobs out there. Nobody is hiring. And the couple jobs that are out there, there are 1,000 people applying with greater credentials. It's a jobless recovery." And the idea is to practice "spiritual jijitsu." Hypocrite wants to help. He's telling me that I need to bring my A-game. My resume needs to be better than just good. It might take longer. I might need to really work my network to get in for interviews, etc. I ask Hypocrite, since he passionately wants to contribute, to help me get the extra support I need to succeed. He's belligerent and will be stubborn, but I thank him for whatever support he can give, and then I walk away. I focus my alignment with a superhero character. BRAWN is a go-getter and believes in the miracle of existence, the beauty of a sunny winter day since that sun is turning the Earth warm in preparation for spring. BRAWN is an optimist and believes in my intrinsic worth and I try to bring him along on informationals, networking sessions, as I write the emails and fill out the applications and interview. Hypocrite stays at home until I get back, where he's bound to share ways I can improve...around EVERYTHING.
Think up some other ways that you can support yourself. Maybe a talisman or lucky charm you bring along? Maybe a quote you put on your mobile device or on the bathroom mirror, or fridge, above your bed.
Proactively prepare for those doldrum moments and plan to walk through those, maybe even pause completely, until you have the strength, and energy to run again.
"If you're going through hell, keep going." Winston Churchill
Today I'm dialing back on the actions. I did however identify another target company and went on their site to create a jobhunt profile. Thankfully, I have all the names, address, phone numbers and contact info for past supervisors at my last few companies, other referrals (name, phone, emails) and past salary information on a one sheet document. They asked for all of that on this job site. Took 45 minutes to fill out their profile information. Organized information is key for the jobhunt.
I really do need to do a spreadsheet of all my contacts...
STEP 8---When you hit the wall
Know when you're working on one of those long-term projects, that requires hours and hours over weeks or months? Like a marathon, there's usually a point at which you hit "the wall." It feels like you can go on no more. You want to give up, throw in the towel. If I'm running four miles (which I rarely do--blessings to endurance runners), I get winded after the first mile. If I muster the courage to push through that first feeling of giving up, I find a second wind that carries me through to the four miles. I'm tempted at times to walk, or to turn around and say I tried.
Obviously, you're expecting me to say again, do your jobhunt with support. Bolles from "What Color is Your Parachute" suggests you have at least THREE people support you.
A. One person you know is a taskmaster and will call you out when you're throwing in the towel for no good reason.
B. One who's tactical and can ask you key questions when you might need to change direction, work smarter, take a strategic break, ask for something you're afraid to ask for. This second person is thoughtful and perceptive. Uncannily intuitive.
C. The third person is a warm, fuzzy teddy bear in spirit. This is someone who can give you a hug. This is the person you could just cry with in frustration and they'll just be there with you and feel no NEED to give advice, suggestions, admonishment, or deep questions. They can tolerate your yelling and tantrums. They are great at loving you for you.
Now of course people who support you may have all those qualities, but you might want to contract with at least three people (informally of course) to serve these distinct functions. Just be sure that you'll be able to get this from a portfolio of folks. No one person can be all this for you. Those in relationships, it's suggested that you find other people and diversify your support. Leaning on a life partner for this support can test your relationship UNNECESSARILY.
You might want to find a jobhunt buddy: someone else who's looking right now. Support each other with daily or weekly check-ins to keep each other on target with actions, and to get feedback. My coaching groups meet weekly for an hour and create great traction. It's refreshing to hear someone else go through the same concerns, and surprisingly solutions are more easily discoverable with diverse viewpoints at once. One on one career coaching is good for those with unique schedules.
So that's people. I alluded to an important thing above. Pace yourself. If you overdo the jobhunt one day, ease up the next time. Give yourself a sustainable pace to jobhunt. Rumor has it that it takes one month for each $10,000 that you want to make in annual salary to get the job. I have no idea how "they" came up with that calculation, suffice to say, think long haul. Obviously, some people land the first thing the apply for and have a job in four days from the day they dust off the resume. And I say mazeltov. For the rest of us, it takes patient time.
Put up at your home desk space a goal for yourself around your career. It helps you focus on the finish. It could be the job description, a timeline (be flexible...maybe a range), and your target companies. Refer to that often when you get stuck in the weeds of individual steps. Include what you're qualitatively working towards: e.g. "a healthier work environment, work-life balance, greater use of my passion skillsets, less use of my burn-out skillsets." This can help motivate you through the mundane, repetitive actions, and the rejections which are par for the course.
Set up rewards for yourself. A museum hour if I do 10 applications. A chocolate treat (careful!) for a day's work well done. A walk in the local park after reading the Wall Street Journal. Stretch away from computer after each 1/2 hour of staring at the screen, etc. The body responds to rewards with renewed energy.
Take a break. You can give yourself a day off. The rest of the day. An hour at 3pm. Listen to your system. Powering through can be the worst choice, especially if you then notice you're making careless mistakes (spelling in a cover letter, for e.g.) or things are taking much longer than normal.
I've taken to naming the "character" who shows up when I'm feeling lousy about myself or my prospects. The character, "Hypocrite" prides himself as a realist and says things like, "well, you know, there are no jobs out there. Nobody is hiring. And the couple jobs that are out there, there are 1,000 people applying with greater credentials. It's a jobless recovery." And the idea is to practice "spiritual jijitsu." Hypocrite wants to help. He's telling me that I need to bring my A-game. My resume needs to be better than just good. It might take longer. I might need to really work my network to get in for interviews, etc. I ask Hypocrite, since he passionately wants to contribute, to help me get the extra support I need to succeed. He's belligerent and will be stubborn, but I thank him for whatever support he can give, and then I walk away. I focus my alignment with a superhero character. BRAWN is a go-getter and believes in the miracle of existence, the beauty of a sunny winter day since that sun is turning the Earth warm in preparation for spring. BRAWN is an optimist and believes in my intrinsic worth and I try to bring him along on informationals, networking sessions, as I write the emails and fill out the applications and interview. Hypocrite stays at home until I get back, where he's bound to share ways I can improve...around EVERYTHING.
Think up some other ways that you can support yourself. Maybe a talisman or lucky charm you bring along? Maybe a quote you put on your mobile device or on the bathroom mirror, or fridge, above your bed.
Proactively prepare for those doldrum moments and plan to walk through those, maybe even pause completely, until you have the strength, and energy to run again.
"If you're going through hell, keep going." Winston Churchill
Comments