Job Search Strategies for Survival, Part Five

Part 5: Etsy, anyone?

1.      This Isn’t a Restaurant - Speak Your Order Into Existence

It can be very easy to lean into this journey as a solo mission. Yes, it’s YOUR career, and you are the one applying, interviewing and eventually negotiating an amazing offer to your next chapter. That said, this job market takes a village to navigate. If you haven’t tapped into your family, friends, old school mates, neighbors, former professors, etc. to let them know you’re searching for your next role and how they can help – have you asked yourself why?

I’ve done a lot of very scientific research on this subject: do you know what percentage of shame and embarrassment you should be internalizing about being an active job seeker right now? Buckle up buttercup, because the answer may be hard for you to accept but I’m not giving you a choice.

Zero.

You should feel NO shame for taking your talents to the open job market. Because guess what? You’re not that unique in being here. Hence the West Side Story-esque streets that has every applicant daydreaming about an Etsy path to self-made wealth (we’ll get into that later).

Most people, at their core, want to help others. That is especially true when they can personally empathize with the other person’s situation that needs assistance. Everyone can relate to the trials and tribulations of a career, and most have been in this very situation before. Open up and let people know that you’re looking. Be specific in what you’re looking for and what kind of support you’re wondering if they can provide – a reference? An introduction? A review of your resume? A pep talk about breaking into the industry they’re in?

In a restaurant, you’re proactively approached by wait staff and asked very pointedly what they can get for you. In most other corners of life, help doesn’t present itself so easily, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be provided. Give your search a voice and let others tag in for the ride. It can truly make a world of difference.

2.      What’s That About Etsy?

Today’s working world isn’t quite as buttoned up, contained and defined as it used to be. The side hustle/gig economy is very much a thing these days, and each generation that joins the working world is even more comfortable embracing this “patchwork quilt” type of career journey than the generation before.

Of course, many of us from certain generations can’t wrap our heads around this quite as easily. It’s hard to unlearn the visions of a successful career that we grew up with, which often entailed 50+ hour weeks, staying with one company long past we should because #loyalty, and “making it” being defined by becoming a people manager whether or not we actually ever wanted to be one.

Great news, kids – those days are over. So why cling to an outdated definition that time has outgrown, and we have too?

Can you monetize your natural talents and passions via avenues outside the corporate landscape? Are there platforms out there worth learning because they might unlock a new level of happiness and an income stream you never previously imagined? With all of the technology out there, the answer to these questions has a strong likelihood of tipping toward yes, but it’s going to take some self-awareness, creativity, dedication and bravery.

Not sure where to start? You already know what I’m going to say…talk to AI. You’ll have more ideas in 5 minutes than you realized were possible, and you’ll probably be hit with a rush of excitement and possibility that will feel amazingly uplifiting!