I am a bit of a late starter in terms of the proactive job search. I have been doing a lot of writing, both freelance and for a potential novel, and have yet to have the real, steady 9 to 5 job. This spring I applied to some residential education jobs at local colleges in an effort to use some of my college experience to land a "real" job and unfortunately this idea did not work out. Although I had a couple successful interviews and felt sure about the position and my adequacy for it.

It is a real bummer to really try for something and not get it but that is an essential part of the job search especially for entry-level positions. That is why career sites often stress to keep your job search active while you wait to hear about a position because as much as it may seem like a perfect match, you might not get the job and you don't want to have wasted time just waiting for it to work out. If I have learned anything about job searching this year, it has been that it is a job to be actively looking for the job. It takes time, energy and much more commitment than you might believe.

Of course it is disappointing to not get the job you wanted but it is more important to take some lessons from that job search to try and get a feel of what you did right and what you may want to change for your next interview or resume that you send out. Also, it is important to keep in mind that you may have done everything right and perhaps were an excellent candidate for the job but there were other factors that changed in the company and the position may not have been available to external candidates. In short, the best tool for a successful job search is perseverance.