I want to talk about something a little different today.
I know many of you are out there, hustling to find a job. And it gets brutal on your psyche when the job you want doesn’t work out or it takes longer than you would like to even get noticed. It’s crazy hard to hear you aren’t the right fit or they went with someone else and work affects so much of your perception of yourself.
You are not alone in this.
One of the darkest times in my life was during the first dot com and my startup along with most of Seattle imploded. It tore me apart to be jobless while trying to support a young family at 24 years old.
Here’s what I want to you to all realize during your job search: What you do for work doesn’t define your well being.
Not having the right fit just means your future career is somewhere else.
I know it can be so stressful during the job hunt. If you can find a way to have compassion for yourself during this time, to know and believe that you are worth every dime you are asking for, taking care of yourself will make the job search so much easier.
Take a day off like on Sunday to go ride a bike and chill out.
That future job will still be waiting.
Almost everyone I know goes through this at some point in their life.
So for you job posters, I also have something to ask of you.
When you are moving on from a candidate, realize the other side of what they are going through. Be gentle and forth coming in your feedback so they can improve their prospects. Be clear in what you are looking for and respond timely so everyone can move on to where they need to be. There’s a real live person on the other side of that resume.
Be kind.