Are Too Many Job Paths Good or Bad?
I recently had a conversation with two professionals who had resigned from their jobs. She had resigned in 2003, he in 2005.
What was interesting about our conversation was that they were both talking about their job choices. Nothing was said in the conversation about plans to find the next jobs.
Instead, they both described various activities that they were both involved in. He was writing and had just finished a book and working on another. Good, of course. No publisher yet, however.
She was practicing a musical instrument, taking computer publishing classes. I heard her say that this was increasing her job skills, but there was still no job goal.
He mentioned, in addition to his writing, that he was thinking of renewing his building contractor’s license. He had done this kind of work before to achieve a more professional status. Not so good! He is older and cannot do the “heavy lifting” required in a building contractor’s job role.
Here is where I began to understand that they were both doing good while doing bad in making choices for new jobs. The doing good part was in remaining curious and active in life. The doing bad, was that there was no planning for the job part. Sure, it is important that people give
themselves freedom to experiment before they make concrete job choices. It is when this stage is prolonged with too many choices that the job seeker often makes poor job choices based on a lack of focus.
And, the doing good while doing bad is based on procrastination and in lying to oneself. The lying to oneself is done by engaging in “busy work”, which does not lead to a job goal. Better to be active, yes, than hiding out and being depressed and not looking for anything. The key words are focus along with action that gets a job search going.
By: Marilyn J. Tellez, M.A., http://doitnowcareercoach.info
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.
