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The Worst Thing That Can Happen to Your Job Search?

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The Worst Thing That Can Happen to Your Job Search? by Mark Anthony Dyson

I watched the Buccaneers go 0-14 in a season when I lived in Tampa. It was brutal, but by no means was it as brutal as being rejected for a position after several rounds of interviews.

Sure, some of us can disengage our personal feelings from the process. Some of us handle rejection pretty well.

But many of us don’t. After a job search — especially a long one, especially when you’ve made it far in the interview process — any bit of rejection can feel personal and, possibly, devastating.

Applying and not hearing back. Taking an assessment and never getting the results. Interview and never receiving a call. It all feels terrible.

You can’t control every aspect of the job search. Pain is part of the process. But that doesn’t mean you have to be hard on yourself. You can learn how to handle rejection more gracefully.

There is nothing romantic about today’s interview process, but we are encouraged to act like there is. “Finding a job is like dating,” people say. Hiring managers expect to see a certain amount of passion from candidates about the job, the company, and the company’s values. But it’s unfair: The more invested you get, the more crushing rejection becomes.

There is a song, “The Worst That Could Happen” by Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge, about a heartbroken man who fell in love with a girl who married another man. The marriage was good for her, but for him, it was devastating. I’m being honest when I say I’ve experienced similar emotional lacerations when I’ve been passed up by peers for a promotion or a job. At the time, these things truly felt like the worst things that could happen.

But eventually, I came to terms with it. Eventually, I did get the promotion I wanted, the job I wanted. Not the same ones, but still.

Each of us is resilient. Each of us crafts our own life story. Employers only care about the chapter of that story in which we overcome the obstacles and achieve. That’s okay: When you talk to Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, they remember winning the Super Bowl, not the winless season.

You may sometimes have during your job search that feel like winless seasons — but you’ll have your Super Bowl wins, too. As a Bucs fan watching them go 0-14, I often felt like the team would never win again. That was the wrong lesson to draw from the experience. You may feel the same about your own career when you are rejected, but trust me: You have won and will win more than you think.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How To Stop Applying To 25-30 Jobs A Week Unsuccessfully

How To Stop Applying To 25-30 Jobs A Week Unsuccessfully by Mark Anthony Dyson

I wanted to share this question I answered a few years back. While this person asked about breaking into an Human Resources career, I thought some of this will apply universally (for the most part):

I apply to about 25-30 jobs a week and haven’t been able to get noticed. What can I do to help improve my chances?

I’m a media studies major and just got my masters in communications, so I can basically go into any field, though I’m probably best suited for Human Resources (HR). Are there any general tips one can offer about getting into the field?

Most people get the jobs they want (including HR) by doing several things. Many of these strategies are disruptive but create success for several career changes. Since you just graduated and the only information about you here is your interest, these are shots in the dark:

Network, network, and network

You may have a gold mine already with the people you know who can help you by telling them a position you want and the company you want to work for. Assuming you are trying to get your foot in the door, see if you can find within your network an employee who works for the company for you to talk to the HR manager.

Job competition is fierce.

There are two sides to this discussion, and both are extreme. First is the employer’s application process, where they will receive hundreds of applications for one position, and many times one percent of applicants are considered qualified. Second, most people start their job search with a spray (apply to dozens of jobs) and pray (hope they get one or two interviews) approach.

Most companies expect you to apply online before recognizing your interest. But history shows it doesn’t guarantee a callback from an employer. In my 15 years in the career industry, people who consistently win the job search are strategic in applying online, or a referral by someone they knew, became well-known in their industry, approached by a recruiter, or were introduced by a 2nd or 3rd ties connection in their network.

Apply to small start-ups to widen your opportunity net.

I recommend applying to small companies but use your network to help find the ones hiring for your skill set. Small companies are more open to conversation starters on LinkedIn. You can attract potential recruiters and employers if you’re an active LinkedIn user with a completed profile. If it’s incomplete, many recruiters will move on.

Join professional groups, organizations, or associations.

You can get to know HR professionals on LinkedIn and Facebook groups, as well as the paid national and local groups. If there are some in your hometown, it’s a plus. Getting to know them and for them to know, like, and trust you give you access your competition won’t have.

Try following the hashtags #humanresources, #HR, and #humanresourcesjobs on LinkedIn. Participate in conversations relevant to the problems you want to solve. While this is a long-game strategy, being a contributor to at-large groupthink could help other people and for you to be seen as a resource.

Use your school’s career services.

They can often put you in touch with active alums who are still connected with the school for the sole purpose of helping graduates with opportunities. If you need more resources and strategies to help you with your job search, they have resources and strategies to help you with your job search.

Internships are for more than just new graduates and are still viable. A few universities and colleges offered past and present graduates applications for internship opportunities a few years ago. While much has changed, the only thing to gain by calling after graduation is the connection to alum networking events.

Informational interviews (or a business conversations)

Since it’s summer, things will slow down for various reasons. You can ask an office for 10 minutes of a hiring manager’s time to ask for information about the position (don’t ask for the job, only offer your resume if they ask you). I know people who contacted HR managers through LinkedIn. You want to use the information as intel to shape your narrative in selling yourself to other companies. Most of all, use it to build a business relationship.

Overall, whatever field you choose, your presence off and online must show an interest in the area. It’s a challenging field, even if you’re passionate about it. It just takes a little time and work. But again, your networking will determine your chances better than any other way.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How To Be Informed About Your Career Regrets By 40

How to Be Informed By Your Regrets Before 40 by Mark Anthony Dyson

Not all career decisions are amusing stories we can tell later, even if things turned out OK. We often lack foresight and insight when we’re in our early 20s. Sometimes our “yes” should have been “no”—and vice versa.

Setting career strategies and goals takes work. Yes, we want to take control of our careers by accepting full responsibility for our actions, creating opportunities for ourselves, and staying connected. There are those times when we put lots of food on our plates, but we will only eat some and often waste the food.

Some decisions seemed horrible then, but it was the right call. You may only appreciate those later, like when you’re over 40. I thought of a few, and perhaps you can spot them sooner than I did:

1. You said “no” and missed out

When you’re young, you value moving up the ladder and want life experiences with friends. You want both, but saying “no” to career opportunities (or a single one) leaves you with feelings of unrequited love. On the trip back to reality, your values mean more than status, and contentment means more than confinement in a career.

It’s bittersweet, but those relationships you built through your experiences were too valuable. Now you understand these relationships start the process way before any crisis.

You gain intelligence from coffee conversations, networking events, and a few informational interviews.

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Only after a few interactions, your resume will take a relevant shape.

2. You were fired, and afterward, your career stalledHow does it feel when you realize being “fired” was either a great new beginning or a shareable life lesson? Being “let go” was not judgment day, but it felt like it. It feels as if Satan, in the form of disappointment, is stalking you. It took years to get over the sting. The needles and pins of pain. The cloudy and stormy feelings of shame.

Some people need help in understanding why it happened, but others discover freedom and relief quickly is what was supposed to happen. You lost a job for reasons not uncommon to man. If you haven’t reframed it positively, now is the time to do so for the rest of your career.

3. You chose life over money.

Our parents told us to have fun and work hard in our 20s. Some of us were underemployed but refused to go home because we loved our freedom. We ate Spam or Ramen noodles to survive because we decided to immerse ourselves in our lives. The sting remained for years, but we can go to that place when challenges cloud our vision.

Sometimes we gain wisdom from there; other times, clarity or novocaine. You can see the ending to your story clearer, so now you save. Even better, happiness used to have a different cash value. Your ability to career management brings a smile and not a competitive smirk.

4. You lost track of tech and professional relationships.

Certain technologies can become old-school in a short time. Your career path can become irrelevant quickly if you are not on top of trends in your industry. Your friends indirectly challenged you to keep up because they were moving, and you knew you had to keep up.

Somewhere along the way, relationships changed, priorities rearranged, and we feel we should start over again. Tech is infused with life now, so you have to catch up. It will take a little while if you work on it daily.

5. You couldn’t accept “no” from a potential employer.

Rejection makes us more robust, and boy, is it painful at the time.

You spent more time over “what could have been” and less on what you have.

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Sometimes it turned out great, and then you’re grateful for the “trial.”

Remember those who benefited from your path and how it turned out because they are not better without you. Whether you just started a new job yesterday or 20 years ago, you can list 20 ways you’re valuable to your next employer. And do yourself a favor: Keep adding to the list.

6. The lousy boss had value, after all.

We may not like the messenger, but the message was on point. Sometimes our jagged little life-saving pill was brought by an ugly carrier pigeon, and we reject the message for the wrong reasons. In our late 30s or early 40s, we realize when a more acceptable package our ugly acting boss was right. We hated the message and the messenger.

Don’t worry, most of us have been there, but it would have saved us or someone else much heartache if we had looked much deeper at the message. The diamond isn’t in the delivery but in the package.

We get to where we realize what’s most useful and valuable lessons are only sometimes recognizable at first. We may have reached a more straightforward space before 40. But the one thing we do know is upon arrival. We appreciate our career journey more because clarity is an irreplaceable part of our experience.