I’ve been searching for a new job now, as a principal, for over one year. I have applied for a countless amount of jobs all over the state of Iowa, east of Des Moines. I have been reached out to by District’s such as Sigourney and Gooselake. I have interviewed in Columbus Junction, Davenport, Des Moines, and Mt. Vernon. I have turned down an opportunity in Mt. Pleasant. Searching for a new job is an exciting, exhausting, depressing, and gratifying process; it is like riding a roller coaster with the climbs to the highs and the drops to the lows. I want it to be over. I hate it. I hate not being the successful candidate. I hate not knowing where I (and my family) will be six months from now. I hate not being in control of the process. It is so stressful. I just want to be offered a job, a job that I want to accept.
This process has reinforced a lot characteristics that I think I possess (patience, persistence, and optimism), and even introduced me to a new, valuable characteristic (humility). I want to use this blog entry to talk to Ryne about the three things that I am most familiar with: patience, persistence, and optimism.
1) Patience – be prepared to wait. A job will become open that is of interest to you, but you have to wait for it to become posted as available. Once it is available to apply for, and you have applied for it, you have to then wait for it to close. After the posting has closed, you have to wait for the employers to sort through the applicants. If you are lucky enough to get a call for an interview, you have to wait for that opportunity. And then finally, if you were interviewed, after the interview, you wait to see if you are the chosen candidate.
2) Persistence – don’t ever give up. When you don’t get selected for an interview, don’t give up on yourself. After your interview, when you discover that the employer has hired a candidate who goes by a name different than yours, don’t give up on yourself. Consider yourself fortunate enough to have made it as far as you did as a candidate, and then determine what you can do to improve yourself. Ultimately, there are certain things that are out of your control so no need to waste energy dwelling on those things; focus your efforts on what you can control. Get Better, Not Bitter.
3) Optimism – always believe in yourself. Never have I thought that I wasn’t the most qualified person for a job, and never have I thought that I would not be offered a job until the job was actually not offered to me. Staying optimistic is hard. I am usually discouraged for about a day after I find-out that I was an unsuccessful candidate. However, a new job opens and, again, I think that I will be the successful candidate for that job.
I keep waiting for the perfect opportunity. I keep waiting for a District that wants me, as much as I (with my family in the front of my mind) want that District/job/town to call home.
This process has reinforced a lot characteristics that I think I possess (patience, persistence, and optimism), and even introduced me to a new, valuable characteristic (humility). I want to use this blog entry to talk to Ryne about the three things that I am most familiar with: patience, persistence, and optimism.
1) Patience – be prepared to wait. A job will become open that is of interest to you, but you have to wait for it to become posted as available. Once it is available to apply for, and you have applied for it, you have to then wait for it to close. After the posting has closed, you have to wait for the employers to sort through the applicants. If you are lucky enough to get a call for an interview, you have to wait for that opportunity. And then finally, if you were interviewed, after the interview, you wait to see if you are the chosen candidate.
2) Persistence – don’t ever give up. When you don’t get selected for an interview, don’t give up on yourself. After your interview, when you discover that the employer has hired a candidate who goes by a name different than yours, don’t give up on yourself. Consider yourself fortunate enough to have made it as far as you did as a candidate, and then determine what you can do to improve yourself. Ultimately, there are certain things that are out of your control so no need to waste energy dwelling on those things; focus your efforts on what you can control. Get Better, Not Bitter.
3) Optimism – always believe in yourself. Never have I thought that I wasn’t the most qualified person for a job, and never have I thought that I would not be offered a job until the job was actually not offered to me. Staying optimistic is hard. I am usually discouraged for about a day after I find-out that I was an unsuccessful candidate. However, a new job opens and, again, I think that I will be the successful candidate for that job.
I keep waiting for the perfect opportunity. I keep waiting for a District that wants me, as much as I (with my family in the front of my mind) want that District/job/town to call home.
