First if you got the interview you can bet someone saw value in you, your skills and your experience. Often being told “no” encourages people to try harder or push on doing the same things. Most people believe coming in second means they just need to try harder to be first.
In job searching that may or may not be the case. Far too often I see people who don’t really fit in a job or an industry, yet they fail into it, got hired again and again into a similar position so they just keep pushing in that direction. For some it is time to stop, to assess, plan and execute something new.
Joe (not his real name) had eight jobs in eleven years in the same position and industry. After his last termination, 120 weeks of unemployment and nine interviews he decided to explore help for interviewing skills. He assumed his interviewing skills were his problem and the reason he was not getting hired.
When we discussed why and how his past jobs ended his answer was the work ended, then he collected unemployment until he was hired in the same position again. I ask if I could call his references and check with this last two employers and he agreed.
The discovery from his references and his employers was different than his point of view for each of his last positions. All of his professional references painted a different picture than Joe did of his work and his work style. His references spoke well of his skills, yet painted a different picture of his work style.
One reference shared that often when he was called as a reference he asked if he enjoyed working with Joe he said no. One reference disclosed that after working with Joe at two different businesses he would answer the call with an example about Joe’s work style and how is affected him and let the new possible employer draw whatever conclusion they would from the example.
The reference valued Joe and his skills, yet Joe had a few blind spots about his work style and this caused issues, problems and a diconnect in cultural fit within the industry. After gathering the information and sharing it with Joe, he said that his references had told him all of the information I shared before and one had offered to help him change to another unit were the work culture was a better fit. However Joe had declined the transfer or the assistance to adapt his behavior.
Joe had choices to make. He could change is occupation, or change his style or change the positions he was seeking to find a work culture where his work style fit the culture and the needs of the business. Joe decided to seek other positions using his skills and where the work style and culture of the organization was more suited to his work style.
He was hired after 3 interviews and returned to work within 2 months of his decision to seek work that was a better fit for his style. Recently I got a message from Joe, he has been on the job a year, enjoys it, got his 2nd pay increase, things are well. Additionally, he noted thanks for helping him see the impact of his blind spots and assisting him to find the first job he ever liked and the only job where he had worked for a over a year.
What are your blind spots? Do you have the confidence to take a hard look at your search and see what might be holding you back in your career?
Are you pushing in a direction that will not help you accelerate your search or accelerate the success you want. You may need to dust yourself off, stop pushing and head in a new or different direction.
Do you have a question about your search? Look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.
no comment until now