It’s been months of job searching so far. Whether you are waiting for your first job or are stuck at a not-so-great one, you’re now looking for greener pastures. But you’re desperate. The job interviews may have been coming in, but you weren’t getting anything out of them other than a slightly smaller sense of self-worth. Alas.
Then your recruiter calls. “Hey, my favorite client, my best bud!” they say as they give up looking for your name on the file in front of them. “I’ve got good news. Company X is looking to set-up a job interview you. Let’s set it up!” You’ve been beaten pretty low from the constant job search rejection, and you’re on the wrong end of the outlook-on-life scale so you say “yeah,” but you’re nonplussed and you need to take a sick day anyway.
The day comes and you get to the job interview. The office looks nice, the company seems solid, and now you’re interested again. You charm the pants off the interviewer with your experience and wit. A day later your recruiter says they were very impressed, and out of the pool of job seekers you were the golden goose. You were the favorite. He says, “They want to bring you in and give you a tour of the company.” You fist pump. You go to the second job interview. You leave smiling.
You’re on the top of the world, right? It was your job to lose and you nailed it. Tens from all judges. Now it’s just time to sit and wait for the job offer and dream about the Guinness Book of World Records-worthy resignation you’re going to give.
WRONG!
The ball is not in your court now. Once you are finished with the job interview process the most you can hope for is that you left a good impression on the employer. At the end of the day, there are a hundred different tangents that can keep you from that job you think you have nailed to the wall.
An old employee might return from their pilgrimage to Tibet and want their job back. Hurricane Sandy could destroy the building. Or they can just say, “Although we liked you better, the difference wasn’t worth the recruiter fee we would have paid to get you.” All of them send you hurling back into the job search.
Nothing is certain until you have the ink drying on the page of your job offer. If you are really trying to change the life you’re living with a new job, you can’t end your job search after one somewhat successful job interview. If you do then you just wasted two to three weeks during the job interview process achieving nothing. And if you don’t get the job offer then the sting is even sharper.
A little hope and joy is all fine and good- I’ve experienced the healing powers of boundless optimism too. But in a job market as fickle as the job seeker’s, that high can come crashing down harder than a baby off a Kit-Kat. And if that does happen, it’s important to have a safety net underneath you- one woven by the threads of having more than one job interview lined up with your rigorous job search.
Optimism does not equate to naiveté, but it can lead to a lethargy that is especially crippling for job seekers. It’s important to make sure that you keep moving that train forward, even when a stop seems close. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket- or one job interview- and continue your job search even if you think you’ll get the job.
Do you have any job search advice for job seekers today? Share with us in the comments section below!
IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr by MicroAssist
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