When Job Search Is Not Job Search

When Job Search Is Not Job Search An analogy: Yesterday one of my kids was sweeping. That was her assignment. It looked more like she was using the broom to lasso dust that was too far away jabbing and jerking, but definitely not sweeping. After she was done, my wife commented to me that it looked like she hadnt even swept. Except that she spent a solid 15 minutes in that area, sweeping. The act of sweeping the mechanics of moving your arms a certain way while holding a broom does not equal the job of sweeping having swept an area to the point where there is no dirt or dust. This reminds me of my job search.  I was in the act of a job search, doing things that job seekers should do. But my heart wasnt in in, and I was really just superficially going through the mechanics of a job search. I did not really do a job search. What that led to was frustration and depression.  What frustration and depression led to was no results in my job search, and further frustration and depression. Why was my job search mostly heartlessly mechanical? Perhaps because I got to the point where I thought I wouldnt really get a real job. Or because I didnt think I was good enough, or deserved, a real job. Or, like many of you that Ive talked to, you are not excited about getting a job that youll only have for a few years, only to do this all over again. That, I think, was the root problem: I wasnt excited about the results, or I didnt believe in the results. Is that the case for you? Let me encourage you to ask, honestly, if you are doing a real job search, or a mechanical, fake job search.  If yours is not real, then WHY?  What is the root issue, and what can change, so that you can do more than just go through the motions? When Job Search Is Not Job Search An analogy: Yesterday one of my kids was sweeping. That was her assignment. It looked more like she was using the broom to lasso dust that was too far away jabbing and jerking, but definitely not sweeping. After she was done, my wife commented to me that it looked like she hadnt even swept. Except that she spent a solid 15 minutes in that area, sweeping. The act of sweeping the mechanics of moving your arms a certain way while holding a broom does not equal the job of sweeping having swept an area to the point where there is no dirt or dust. This reminds me of my job search.  I was in the act of a job search, doing things that job seekers should do. But my heart wasnt in in, and I was really just superficially going through the mechanics of a job search. I did not really do a job search. What that led to was frustration and depression.  What frustration and depression led to was no results in my job search, and further frustration and depression. Why was my job search mostly heartlessly mechanical? Perhaps because I got to the point where I thought I wouldnt really get a real job. Or because I didnt think I was good enough, or deserved, a real job. Or, like many of you that Ive talked to, you are not excited about getting a job that youll only have for a few years, only to do this all over again. That, I think, was the root problem: I wasnt excited about the results, or I didnt believe in the results. Is that the case for you? Let me encourage you to ask, honestly, if you are doing a real job search, or a mechanical, fake job search.  If yours is not real, then WHY?  What is the root issue, and what can change, so that you can do more than just go through the motions?