Job Seekers, Fall Leaves and Working Together
Oh, my aching back! I’ve spend much of the past week raking and blowing, blowing and raking the last of those Fall leaves while uttering the odd profanity, like “Gee, Golly Gosh, where can all those leaves possibly come from?”
It got me thinking about the power of Fall leaves and what job seekers can learn can learn from them. 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.
Job Search Analogy
It is I think a good analogy for the job seeker. One of the many ironies of the job search is that even though there are millions in job search, for many (most?) of those job seekers, job search is still one of the loneliest places in the world.
Much of this is based on job search process the job seeker selects or probably more accurately fall into – Working on their own, doing their job search at home on their own, going to the library on their own, exercising on their own etc. There is a substantial body of research that indicates loneliness and isolation has major negative impact on our wellbeing.
Job Seekers! You Can’t Do This on your Own
Learn from those Fall leaves. Find other “anchors” to help you achieve your objectives and energetic.
ACTION to stay Sane, Motivated and Productive in job search
Get involved in a more structured, formal manner with other job seekers. Create a work environment with other job seekers similar to what you might have had in your previous paying position?
“How the heck do I do that, Conor?” I hear you say.
“Here’s how you do it,” you hear me say!
Agree with a few of your buddies that you will do some of your job search work at the local library or similar facility.
Structure (the first element of SHEIFGAB!) that you will ALL be there at the same start time. You don’t need to all work in the same area, but you should agree to be at the “office” at the same time (you know, like the previous job!)
Structure to take a 15 minute (or similar) break after 90 minutes AND Structure an end time for your little work plan.
But agree to 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!
Conor is author SHEIFGAB! the World. Staying Sane, Motivated and Productive in Job Search.
SHEIFGAB! =
Structure, Help, Environment, Improve, Family, Goals, Attitude, Behavior
