The Hunt

It doesn’t matter how you lost the job. Now you’re sitting there without one. If your company gave you severance and cobra pay, consider yourself fortunate because this buys you time between jobs. If you don’t have much in savings and time is tight, no worries. I’ll cover this subject in a different article.

The hunt is on. You’re hidden behind the bushes and you hear the rustle of something off in the distance. Then you hear a crackling of underbrush. Its….a….job. Be careful not to scare it away. To be honest this is exactly how it feels to look for work. Do your resume the wrong way, say the wrong thing, dress too much or too little and you’ll scare the job off. Its a risk but it’s better than doing nothing. You’re a walking business remember?

If you worked from home you probably had a desk or a table to sit at. The computer that occupied that space at your last job has been sent back to your former employer. Do you have a computer? Most people do. If you don’t, consider the resources of your local library or borrowing a friends computer for a while. Sometimes folks have an old laptop lying around that they betrayed for the love of a brand new one so they’ll have no problem giving you “the one the got away.” You’re going to need a few things.

Firstly, your resume. Don’t even think of applying until you’ve updated it. There are several ways to update your resume. You can do it yourself or you can use several online resources to create you a resume. I use Huntr.co personally. This combines the use of AI in building your resume towards the jobs you want and it allows you to go through it and edit, keep, or remove any of its suggestions. You can save those as base resumes. But the coolest thing is that when you’re job hunting, it has a plugin that pulls the job description and lets you tailor one of your base resumes to the job with the same AI review to edit, keep or remove what you want or don’t want. You then have one resume specifically for that job and that company. That will cost you about 40 bucks a month but keep in mind that you don’t plan on being unemployed for months on end. Another resource you can use is a professional resume writer. I’ve used a couple and while the resume’s they’ve written didn’t get me the jobs I had, they’re good to have in your back pocket. Using a variation of resume’s isn’t a bad thing. Paying a professional may cost you between $100 and $200.

Secondly, your attitude. You lost your job so you already feel judged but you won’t get anywhere if you go into this with the wrong attitude. Here’s a breakdown of why you shouldn’t feel judged. Recruiters are looking for the right fit for the role they have open. Some care if you have doctorates and degrees. Others do not. Most job positions will list things that are nice to have. Some will say its okay that you don’t fit all of the requirements and some will not say anything. The general belief is that its this way for most employers. They already know that they can’t get any one person to fit the mold perfectly and if they held out for that, they’d never hire anyone. Remember all of the jobs you’ve had where you were a good fit. You will be be a good fit for someone and you only need to be a good fit for one job generally.

Thirdly is the actual hunt. Don’t apply to positions you know you aren’t a good fit for. THINK about the jobs you’ve had and what you liked or didn’t like about them. Think about the reason the last company let you go. If it was a layoff, the reason may have been down to lack of growth. Maybe you want a company that embraces adaptability and throws out the status quo. That’s a good company to work for. Don’t just look at how good the benefits are. Read about the job, review your accomplishments and ask yourself if the job is a good fit for you. You’d be surprised to know that if you feel you’re a good fit, the chances increase that the company you’re applying to thinks you’re a good fit too. Interviews go well when you’re excited about the position you’re applying for. You identify with the person you’re talking to because they’re in the same industry you come from.

Fourthly, be prepared for rejection and be prepared for the amount of time it will take for you to get a reply back on an application. For me, the average time to wait has been about three weeks. It generally depends on your qualifications and the size of the company. A small startup may get back to you in a week. If the job is popular it may take longer to get back to you. The rejections will be immense. This is the case even if you have a glowing resume. You’re going to hear the same phrase. “While we think your qualifications are really great, we’ve decided to go with someone more aligned to our needs.” So basically what they’re saying is, you’re qualified but just because you’re qualified doesn’t mean you’ll get the job. Lots of folks are qualified but most jobs have specific needs for specific qualifications.

In closing, I need to say this and its going to be heavily unpopular. You need to look for work every day if your financial situation is dire. It’s good to take a one day break every week but gauge that on how many interviews you have lined up. The more you apply, the more responses you’ll get. Not all of them are going to be negative. Not all of them are going to be rejections. You’re worth the time you invest in yourself.