Now is the time to be vigilant and true to ourselves. As we begin our new year, we must do
everything in our power to make good on our resolutions. And if you are reading this, chances
are finding a job is towards the top of that list. The first thing we need to do is put to rest all of
our nasty excuses. We all have, or have had, a number of seemingly compelling reasons not to
look for a job. Upon closer scrutiny, however, most of these hold little weight. Today I want to
look at (and debunk) a number of popular excuses.
Now is not the time. This is one of the most common and dangerous excuses. There is always a
seemingly good reason to think that, "Now, is not the time." Winter means slower business in a
lot of industries. By Spring, too many of the jobs are filled. the Summer we have to take care of
the kids, and in Fall there are too many applicants. Any of these excuses sound compelling, but if
we listen to them we will never actually get up and go searching. The fact is there are always
jobs out there (especially on this site!), and now is always the right time to start looking for
them!
I’m not qualified/knowledgeable/skilled enough. No one starts out totally qualified. Every
CEO and manager, every foreman and heavy-hitter started somewhere. You become qualified by
taking the best job you can find, working it, and learning from it. You do this, and lo and behold,
you become more qualified. Then you rinse and repeat. You keep striving to work the best job
you can. This is the only way to become qualified. Don’t wait around for knowledge to strike
you like a bolt of lightning. Get out there and learn (and earn a bit of money while you’re at it!)
I don’t want to work a job I’ll hate! Then do your best to find a job you’ll love! It is true that
sometimes our only options are jobs we don’t particularly want, but that shouldn’t dissuade us
from taking them. There is a lot to be said for momentum for the sake of momentum. Working a
job gets you out there, moving, working, shaking etc. This will ramp up your energy to keep
looking for that dream job. We all need to work! Sometimes we get lucky with a perfect job, and
sometimes we just take what we can get. We can’t work our dream job right off the bat, your
dream job is something that you have to work towards, usually by working jobs that are not quite
as much fun.
But no one will hire me anyway! This is one that you cannot know until you try, and then try
again, and then again, and again, until there are no more companies left. If you keep at it,
someone will hire you. But you have to work, and try, and fail, until you succeed. If you give up
before you really try, you will never get anywhere.
Excuses are easy, incessant, and nagging. If we are going to move forward and get back into the
working world we need to do away with them. Keep your head up, keep striving, and don’t let
the excuses slow you down!