Trust the Process
“Trust the process, your time is coming, just do the work and the results will come” – unknown author.
Today’s job search is online; job postings, applications, email correspondence from applications submitted either as a receipt (a “thank you for applying”), a Dear John Letter (“we went with another applicant”) and/or an invitation to set up an interview.
Glassdoor.com article published the article ‘Top 5 Reasons You Never Hear Back After Applying For A Job‘, listing the following: 1) Your really not qualified 2) You haven’t keyword-optimized your resume or application 3) Your resume is not formatted properly 4) Your resume is substantial different from your online profile 5) The company received 500 resumes for one job posting, and yours was 499th in. The article goes on to offer tips to overcoming these 5 hurdles – ‘to get noticed’.
Focusing on the last point, #5 – since most job vacancies are posted online (Job Boards, Company Websites), and applicants complete/submit applications – resumes – cover letters online as well, it would stand to reason that most positions posted receive an avalanche of applications daily. So week after week, and having submitted dozens of applications, its understandable when the Job Seeker becomes frustrated “this isn’t working!”, or confusion “is this working?”, or feelings of defeat “no one wants to hire me”.
In efforts to manage the Job Seeker’s expectations, as well as the emotional responses to their job search, I thought it important to stress: the Job Seeker really only has control over their job search activity (time invested, consistent daily effort, quality and volume of applications submitted, resume format and key-word content, drafting cover letters, interview practice, etc.) but certainly has zero control over the decision making of the Hiring Manager. This is good news, meaning… you are in control of your job search… because your in control of your job search activity.
While getting ’employment ready’, which should include starting with the 4 Areas of Stability, as well as understanding that getting a job… is ‘a job’. Getting employment ready can take time, identifying and then obtaining the ‘right’ job (that meets the Job Seeker’s specific needs, working around barriers related to disability, playing into strengths) can also take time.
I recently had a conversation with a Job Seeker who: has not been employed before, had several major life events occur in the last year (which were understandably a distraction), started new medication(s) to treat a ‘new diagnosis’, all in addition to disability related barriers/symptoms he was already experiencing. The conversation started with the Job Seeker’s statement “this (job search) is taking too long”. I agreed, in terms of when the job search started and now 6 months later, the job search can feel as though it is taking too long. However, what is notable here is that the Job Seeker was not stable for the last 4-5 months; medically was chronically ‘sick’ with the flu or a cold and the major life events had taken a negative toll emotionally speaking, which resulted in a new diagnosis and medication(s) – which took weeks for the Job Seeker to adjust to.
Ultimately, this Job Seeker’s job search was going to be delayed due to factors outside of their control. If this individual had obtained employment, and then major life events and illness occurred (as they did), would they have been able to successfully maintain employment? I asked this question to the concerned Job Seeker and their response was “no” – they did not think they would have been successful learning a new job, staying focused or even feeling well enough to go to work.
I share this scenario to demonstrate that a job search can be full of surprises, some good, some not, but it is important to trust the process. In the above example I am certain this individual did not know he would be utterly distracted for a majority of his job search, and that after 6 months, he would still not have found employment. But with encouragement, consistent effort and now stability… it is only a matter of time until ‘Preparation Meets Opportunity’ and the Job Seeker’s results will come.
Where Preparation Meets Opportunity