The Two Stages of Job Search: Earning and Accepting

Jennifer* has been having a hard time finding jobs she wants to apply to.

“I saw about ten this week, but three seemed too far away, and this other one I didn’t seem to have quite the qualifications for. Then this one, I’m not sure I’d want to work in that industry…”

And so she hasn’t applied to anything.

This leads into one of my favorite pieces of career advice (something I always understood but only crystallized for me after listening to a Manager Tools podcast).

There are two phases to job search.

1. Earning a job offer.
2. Accepting a job offer.

In other words, don’t get ahead of yourself with whether or not you’d accept a job. If a job has a reasonable chance of satisfying some or all of your job search mission, focus first on proving your qualifications and earning that offer.

Then, you can take what you’ve learned through that process and the terms of the offer and see if a workable situation is possible.

If you let every question about whether or not a job is the right fit for you get in the way of pursuing an opportunity, you’ll never find that right fit.

photo credit: Flowery *L*u*z*a*

Related posts:

1. Job search mission statement: Goal setting and your job search
2. Use transferable job skills for your job search
3. Not everything is a job search nail: Effective use of your resume
4. Job search tip: Finding the hiring manager, Part 3