Are You Being Too Picky In Your Job Search?
- Sep 8, 2015
- 4 min read
When I graduated University my intent was to work for an Oil and Gas company as an Engineer. I was determined to find a job in Oil and Gas and believed I had the right qualifications to get a Junior Engineering position. I arrived in the city without a job and slept on a friends couch for what I thought would be a month. I was very picky about where I wanted to work and spent my first two weeks applying only to specific jobs. Two months passed and I received zero phone calls, bills were also piling up and I was beginning to get a bit nervous but I wasn’t ready to lower my standards. I hung on to my dream and only applied for specific jobs till I ran out of money and got tired of sleeping on the couch. My circumstances forced me to lower my standards and I began applying for any job that I could get, in a short time I had an interview and started working two weeks later.
It wasn’t my dream job and I dreaded waking up each morning but it did provide me the opportunity to gain some exposure to the Oil and Gas industry. My frustration with the job motivated me to seek another position and I spent months applying for other jobs while working. I was eventually able to use the experience I obtained to get a role that I wanted but the journey definitely took longer than I thought.
Below is what I learned from the experience:
1.) Things don’t always happen as quickly as you would like them to especially if you are going after a very specific role. Some people are fortunate enough to get a dream job right away but if you are like me then you may not get your dream job right away and will have to decide if you want to keep holding out for the dream job or settle for something in the short-term.
2.) Money is a huge driver for how long you can wait to get the ideal job – If you have unlimited resources you wouldn’t even need a job in the first place. If money is an issue for you and you have bills to pay then you may not have the luxury of waiting for the ideal job and you will need to give yourself a timeline for when you will run out of money/ resources.
3.) Look for something related– If you have to settle for a job that is less than ideal then look for something that is as related to your ideal position as possible. This will make it easier to transition to something that you want as you will acquire skills, experience and connections that will make you more competitive in your job search. Don’t wait till you are completely out of resources before you start applying for these jobs as it may be late and you will be more desperate. If you are struggling to find the job of your dreams give yourself a reasonable timeline to start applying for your second tier jobs so you don’t end up desperate as you will make worse decisions.
4.) It can be frustrating – I recall feeling miserable every day that I was in the office when working at my transition job. I often felt like I had wasted my education and wasn’t living up to my potential. It was also demoralising seeing my classmates making more money and with better jobs than I had. I was able to use this frustration as fuel to push me to keep searching for another job. After spending sometime in a job you dislike it can be easy to become lazy and give up on your dreams DO NOT GIVE UP! I know many people who have successfully transitioned to the job of their dreams even after three years working in a job they couldn’t stand.
5.) Stay hungry – There is nothing greater than waking up in the morning and being excited to go to work, it affects your mental state as well as your physical state. Don’t settle for less than you deserve no matter how bad the situation is keep searching and applying for the jobs you really want. Use your current role to learn skills and take courses that will make you look like a better candidate when you apply for other jobs.
Question – How long have you been waiting for the perfect role or have you temporarily giving up on finding it
Action – Assess your finances when looking for a job and identify when you will run out of resources, this will decide when you need to find some type of employment even if it’s not your ideal position.
Don’t ever give up on the job you want though even if you have a temporary setback
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