What Job Seekers Can Learn from Autumn Leaves
Oh, my aching back! Having spent much of the past week (in rather chilly weather), raking and blowing the last of those Fall leaves while uttering the odd profanity, like “Gee, Golly Gosh, where can all those leaves possibly come from?” I thought about the power of Autumn leaves and what job seekers can learn. I find it intriguing that when I pile all those leaves together, they stick together even in windy conditions! But the single leaf – on its own, with no support structure – gets blown away.
It is I think a good analogy for the job seeker. One of the real ironies of the job search is that even though there are millions in job search, for many of those job seekers, it is still one of the loneliest places in the world. Much of this is based on the decision of the job seeker to work on their own, doing their job search at home on their own, going to the library on their own, exercising on their own etc. You Can’t Do This on your Own One simple practice that will help anyone in job transition to feel better about themselves and to stay sane, motivated and productive in job search is to get involved in a more structured manner with other job seekers and create a work environment with other job seekers similar to what you might have had in your previous paying position? Here’s one simple effective piece of Job Search advice. Agree with a few of your buddies that you will do some of your job search work at the local library. Structure* that you will ALL be there at the same start time. Structure to take a 15 minute (or similar) break after 90 minutes AND Structure an end time for your little work plan. But do it together. When you tell your fellow job seeker that you will be at the library at a set time, you likely WILL be there at the set time because of peer pressure you have generated. Your colleagues in job transition will likely have the same mind set and behavior. When your structured work time is complete, you will leave that library feeling much better about yourself, because you have been more productive than normal, and you have been more productive than normal because like Autumn leaves, you found strength and inspiration in numbers. SHEIFGAB! the World *Structure is the first of 8 Building Blocks to help you SHEIFGAB! the World. Staying Sane, Motivated and Productive in Job Search. Jobseekers need Structure, something which they had in previous employment but lose very fast when they start the job search. SHEIFGAB! =
Structure, Help, Environment, Improve, Family, Goals, Attitude, Behavior