How to Find Long-Term Career Enjoyment, Success, & Fulfillment
Searching for a job in the modern job marketplace is not something that should intimidate you, create anxiety within you, or stress you out. But for most it regularly does. The reason for this generally boils down to one of three reasons.
- A lack of knowledge on how to execute an effective job search
- An insufficient amount of time to invest in finding a new job
- Fear of rejection
Personally, these have all applied to me several times over the course of my career, often times happening concurrently. This paralyzing trifecta inspires contentment with employment dissatisfaction, making career mobility and growth seem almost impossible.
Employment Dissatisfaction Quickly Transitions Into Poor Work Performance
This will eventually lead to termination. Forcing the newly unemployed to now face their job search anxiety head-on with the added pressure of a sudden loss of income. Compelling job seekers to focus on swiftly replacing that lost income, pushing them into finding the job they need not want.
As a recruiter for a top U.S. staffing company in one of the largest job markets in the country, Los Angeles, I regularly witnessed this first hand. I communicated with thousands of job seekers and interviewed hundreds of potential candidates.
These interactions were with people across the spectrum of age, ethnicity, gender, social economic background, and level of experience. Some candidates had 25+ years of work experience, while some had no work experience at all. However, all were striving for long-term career success, enjoyment, and fulfillment, yet unsure of how to find the right employment opportunity that would get them there.
Some had amazing resumes, while some had no resumes. Most were somewhere in the middle struggling to condense years of experience into 1 – 2 pages. Some interviewed like they were a professional, while most just needed some fine-tuning.
Most Individuals Could Use a Job Search Strategist and Employment Advocate
Occasionally, some people need serious coaching. Most search for the confidence in themselves, and the words to adequately convey the value of their experience to potential employers. Above all else, each individual searches for a new employment opportunity that would improve their standard of living.
What I came to realize is that everyone could use a job search strategist and employment advocate to support them in achieving their employment goals. Someone to help them write a professional resume and cover letter.
Someone to help them conduct their job search to find the job they WANT not NEED. Someone to help them prepare to crush interviews. Someone to talk to and strategize with when things aren’t going well at work.
I know I personally could have used all of these several times throughout my career. After all, the average person will spend 90,000+ hours at work in their lifetime.
Achieving Long-Term Career Success, Enjoyment & Fulfillment Is What We All Deserve
Ultimately, this is what we should be striving for. To accomplish this, learning how to leverage previous work experience in order to level up into new employment opportunities is very important.
As such, understanding the basics of resumes, cover letters, job searching, and interviewing are a necessity for every person in the workforce.
The Modern Job Seeker was created to support job seekers in their pursuit to find the job they WANT not NEED. The job that propels them
towards long-term career success, enjoyment, & fulfillment.
According to Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace report, only 33% of U.S. employees are engaged at work. Painting a disheartening portrait of 66% of the country’s workforce as meandering through a maze of mediocre employment experiences.
Going through the motions at work, diligently enduring their dissatisfaction. If on a scale from 1 – 10, your current level of employment satisfaction is at a 7 or below, it’s time to begin searching for the job you want. Or else, you put yourself in a situation where you may end up you’re desperately searching for the job you need.
The Best Time to Begin Your Job Search Is While You’re Still Gainfully Employed
Yes, the best time to begin your job search is while you’re still gainfully employed. Not only are passive job seekers highly desirable, but they have the luxury of conducting a more relaxed and discerning job search.
In order to find the job you want, will enjoy, and will excel in, not just another job you need to get by, you should begin by objectively answering the following questions:
- Why do I want to leave my current job?
- What do I want my new job to look like?
- What are my non-negotiables in accepting a new job?
The answers to these questions will help to build the foundation for your job search, interview strategy. Finding the root cause of WHY you’re no longer content with your current employment situation.
Seeking to understand what led you there, from both your own and the company perspective, will help you identify red flags, and convert your experience into questions for potential future employers.
If you are able to step back and view your employment situation from an objective perspective, it will help provide clarity around the cause of your unhappiness, the factors leading to it, and how to avoid it in the future.
As you think about what you WANT your new job to look like, be sure to consider how well it aligns with your experience, professional strengths, and career development goals. Also, you should identify and define your salary expectations, employer quality preferences, and anything else that is most important to you regarding your professional brand.
Decide What You Want Your New Employment Opportunity to Look Like
Just as determining why you’re ready for a new employment opportunity, deciding what you want your new employment opportunity to look like, in advance of embarking on your job search, will help you focus on finding the job you want, not the one you need.
A NON-NEGOTIABLE is described as something that is not open to discussion or modification. It cannot be bought, sold, exchanged, or transferred.
This means that above all else, if a company does not readily offer you these items, then it is not worthy of your consideration. Be sure to consider that this job must allow you to provide for, and take care of, yourself and your family.
Since ultimately you plan to leverage the experience you gain here to create a better opportunity for yourself, you should also seek to align yourself with employers that promote from within, offer training and development opportunities, have a set of core values or beliefs they follow, and definitely pay you what you believe you are worth.
Your non-negotiables should be tailored to fit what works best for you.
Searching for new employment in the modern job marketplace is not something that should intimidate you, create anxiety within you, or stress you out.
The Modern Job Seeker Is Your Personal Job Search Strategist and Employment Advocate
We assist you on your journey to find the job you want not need. In addition to this, there is a vast number of technological resources and tools readily available to make your job search more efficient and effective.
All it takes is a commitment to the following:
- Creating a strategy
- Deciding what you want
- Establishing your non-negotiables
- Gaining an understanding of why you’re ready to make a move
Remember, the goal of your job search should be to find a job that propels you further towards long-term career enjoyment, success, and fulfillment. Best of luck!
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