Some Job Search Advice You Won't Hear Every Day

I just read an outstanding article by Peter Bregman on searching for a job today. I have cut/pasted a portion of the article here but if you want to read it in its entirety (and I recommend that you do) click on the link above and check it out. Mr. Bregman provides a really interesting perspective and I couldn't have written it better myself.

The following excerpted from Peter Bregman's article, "Need to Find A Job? Stop Looking So Hard."

Nobody wants to hire someone (or a company) who needs to be hired to survive. Depressed is not attractive. People want to hire energized people who are passionate and excited about what they're doing. Jobs come from being engaged in the world and building human connections.

And an even more subtle reason. If you're passionate about what you're doing, and you're doing it with other people who are passionate about what they're doing, then chances are the work you eventually find will be more in line with the stuff you love to do. And then . . . then your life changes (not to be too dramatic but it's true). No longer are you, like my consulting friend said, "going after anything that's out there." You're using this crisis as an opportunity to do work you love, at which you excel, with people you enjoy. You can't help but succeed.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: that's a fine strategy if you're independently wealthy, getting that nice fat trust fund check every week to pay for your gym membership (or mortgage or kid's tuition). But what about the rest of us? Our inability to pay the monthly bills might actually intrude on our ability to "enjoy" unemployment. I know how scary it is to be without an income.

And that fear is what you have to manage because here's the kicker. It won't take longer to find a job even though you're spending less time looking. It'll take you less time.

Pursuing things you love doing with people you enjoy will position you better to get a job; other people will notice your commitment, passion, skill, and personality and they'll want to either hire you or help you get hired.

Also, actively pursuing other activities while looking for a job will make you more qualified for a job--because you'll end up a more interesting person. When you finally get that job interview, you'll be able to recount all the many things you've been doing (and will probably have a good time relating them) instead of saying that the only thing you've been doing for the past three years is looking (unsuccessfully so far) for a job.

The same holds true if you're a company looking for business. Spend your time doing things that will make you a more interesting company to hire when the business comes back.

And even if it took the same amount of time to find a job, wouldn't you rather spend your time doing things that are interesting with people you enjoy?

I just heard the story of a woman who decided to do work she didn't enjoy for a few years in order to make a lot of money. Three years later the company went bankrupt. That could happen to anyone. Bad luck. But here's what she said that I found the most depressing: "It's as though I didn't work for the last three years--it's all gone. And what's worse, I worked like a dog and hated it. I just wasted three years of my life."

Don't waste this time. The job search. The client search. Do it. But do it in a way that excites you. That teaches you new things. That introduces you to new people who see you at your natural, most excited, most powerful best. Use and develop your strengths. The things at which you excel. The things you love.

It's well known that people have a harder time getting pregnant when they're stressed about getting pregnant. And it's unlikely you'll get into a relationship if all you think about is getting into a relationship. The same holds true for finding a job (or, for a company, finding new business). However hard it may be, force yourself to do things you love with other people. Let the work find you.