Thanks to my brother Stephen for getting me hooked on HBR updates like this one. It couldn't have come at a better time!
JUNE 07, 2012
Keep Your Spirits Up While Looking for a Job
It can be hard to stay positive in today’s tough job environment, but it’s critical. Becoming cynical or depressed will work against you, in part because most interviewers, no matter how much you fake it, will pick up on your real feelings. Actively manage your emotions so that you are truly happy, focused, and energetic:
Manage yourself. Set reasonable weekly goals for networking, researching, and applying for jobs. Reward yourself for accomplishing them.
Put your eggs in many baskets. You’re less likely to get depressed by a single rejection if you have other options in the works.
Get out of the house. Do anything that will get you out, teach you something new, connect you with new people, and perhaps become a new line on your resume.
Adapted from “Don't Let Your Job Search Depress You” by Priscilla Claman.
Keep Your Spirits Up While Looking for a Job - Management Tip of the Day - June 07, 2012 - Harvard Business Review
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
The Adventure Continues...
Well here I am again, at a seemingly familiar juncture, faced with the quandary, "What am I going to do with my life?". Although, now I've at least learned that in some ways, the most immediate permutation of that 20' high bolded question is really, "What am I going to do with my life...next?"
I moved on from Epic and took a position in Bilingual Account Development. Unfortunately, my skills seemed to be unappreciated, and after three challenging months, I was informed that I was "not the best fit" for the position.
Sigh. So with two weeks severance and a brisk escort to the front door, I am now back at square one. I had my week to grieve and seethe, frankly, over the three months of unkept promises, exaggerated work hours and lack of corresponding compensation. But, that's all over with. I definitely learned a great deal of valuable lessons there, though, not the least of which was "know when to keep your mouth shut." Peter said it well, when I broke the news to him, in that my family is, well, familial, but I'd be remiss to think that I can find the same dynamic in a bottom line-driven, semi-antiquated mid-size company culture. In deed. I realized this morning, though, that it really is a waste of my health and emotional energy to expend any more grief or frustration towards this now previous employer. In the wise words of my girlfriend's father, himself very accomplished and no stranger to similar corporate moves, "you just have to turn the page, and the sooner you can do so the better."
(page turns)
So, here I am! I'm somewhat excited actually at the freshness of a new start and new opportunity. I lieu of dashing on to the job sites and firing my resume around cyberspace, I've been taking a more contemplative, introspective approach. A more "push versus pull" approach, which is to say that I'm looking at what I really want to do,as criminal as that feels, and then looking at what opportunities my lie at hand.
Coaching.
Spanish.
International.
Social justice. Entrepreneurship. Language. Creating opportunity where none exists. Lifting youth from ashes. Anything but cartels. Baseball :-). Moving again? No thanks.
It's wide open. Grad school? Professorship? Doing *something* of significance, other than just building someone's bottom line. Building the global bottom line, a net gain, a win win. No more exploitation, ripoffs, zero-sum-games. Hmm...good to think, ponder, dream a bit again. Lifting my own eyes from the ashes and imagining "what if?" Feels healing already. Slowing down, silencing the crowd noise, saying "no" to those peddling the immediate, comfortable salaries, and doing some personal homework. Brasil. Learning Portuguese, French, why not more? Exciting to think of. Language is access, as I've so poignantly experienced. It's a good day. It's a new chapter. And the pen is in my hand :-].
Oh, I think this article was actually why i originally planned on blogging, almost just because I like the per link option. Haha. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/world/americas/peru-confronts-wounds-of-civil-war.html?smid=pl-share
I moved on from Epic and took a position in Bilingual Account Development. Unfortunately, my skills seemed to be unappreciated, and after three challenging months, I was informed that I was "not the best fit" for the position.
Sigh. So with two weeks severance and a brisk escort to the front door, I am now back at square one. I had my week to grieve and seethe, frankly, over the three months of unkept promises, exaggerated work hours and lack of corresponding compensation. But, that's all over with. I definitely learned a great deal of valuable lessons there, though, not the least of which was "know when to keep your mouth shut." Peter said it well, when I broke the news to him, in that my family is, well, familial, but I'd be remiss to think that I can find the same dynamic in a bottom line-driven, semi-antiquated mid-size company culture. In deed. I realized this morning, though, that it really is a waste of my health and emotional energy to expend any more grief or frustration towards this now previous employer. In the wise words of my girlfriend's father, himself very accomplished and no stranger to similar corporate moves, "you just have to turn the page, and the sooner you can do so the better."
(page turns)
So, here I am! I'm somewhat excited actually at the freshness of a new start and new opportunity. I lieu of dashing on to the job sites and firing my resume around cyberspace, I've been taking a more contemplative, introspective approach. A more "push versus pull" approach, which is to say that I'm looking at what I really want to do,as criminal as that feels, and then looking at what opportunities my lie at hand.
Coaching.
Spanish.
International.
Social justice. Entrepreneurship. Language. Creating opportunity where none exists. Lifting youth from ashes. Anything but cartels. Baseball :-). Moving again? No thanks.
It's wide open. Grad school? Professorship? Doing *something* of significance, other than just building someone's bottom line. Building the global bottom line, a net gain, a win win. No more exploitation, ripoffs, zero-sum-games. Hmm...good to think, ponder, dream a bit again. Lifting my own eyes from the ashes and imagining "what if?" Feels healing already. Slowing down, silencing the crowd noise, saying "no" to those peddling the immediate, comfortable salaries, and doing some personal homework. Brasil. Learning Portuguese, French, why not more? Exciting to think of. Language is access, as I've so poignantly experienced. It's a good day. It's a new chapter. And the pen is in my hand :-].
Oh, I think this article was actually why i originally planned on blogging, almost just because I like the per link option. Haha. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/world/americas/peru-confronts-wounds-of-civil-war.html?smid=pl-share
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