The Marketing Diner

Embracing The Suck In Your Job Search

Posted on 29. Dec, 2008 by Jared Degnan in Featured, Job Search

Let’s talk about progress, shall we?

I am 17 months into a 21-month long MBA program. I have been interviewing non-stop since August for full-time positions and I have yet to get a single offer. It would be easy to say that in all that time and through all that effort, what we have here is a stunning lack of progress.

Sardonic as it may be, this feeling is widespread among my fellow MBAs in the class of 2009. In fact, I can tell you from personal experience that it’s a day-to-day battle to remain positive despite what can feel like continual setbacks.

It’s times like this that I love to invoke one of my classmate’s favorite military themes: “Embrace The Suck!”

Drawn from the deep well of military jargon, “Embrace The Suck” essentially means that while the situation may suck, you don’t have to. In that theme, as we stare down the pretty substantial task of getting a job in this economy, I tried to find some ways to truly embrace the suckiness of the situation.

Embrace The Suck – Contacts

When the economy is down, you’re apt to get plenty of people who tell you that they’re not hiring.  That doesn’t mean you should stop calling people. Call them networking contact calls, call them informational interviews but if you manage them right, these contacts can serve as a valuable resource later down the line.

Case in point; I recently used a random contact to leverage my way into a company that I know has open positions, currently but is delaying their hiring until the second quarter of 2009.  By thinking outside the box in terms of what you can get from a random contact, you can increase your chances that you will ultimately find them useful.

The main idea here is to remain altruistic and candid about the relationships.  Yes, you need a job but more importantly, you’re seeking input from that contact in order to further your understanding of their operational area. The more you give – the more you’re going to get.

For More On Networking, Check Out Jason Alba’s Thoughts On The Matter on JibberJobber.com

Embrace The Suck – Experience

The worst part about interviewing is the inevitability that you won’t land the vast majority of the positions you’re up for.  In my opinion, the sting of rejection can almost be worse than not having the opportunity entirely. Then I remember the upside – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Though it hurts, a rejection is the surest opportunity to get input into how you can improve.  It’s the experience of multiple rounds of interviews that make you more confident and stronger.  The bad news about this logic is that you have to fail in order to succeed but the good news is that you’re most likely failing towards the opportunities that are better suited for you.  Seriously, who wants to be an ABM for a brand they don’t believe in?

Embrace The Suck – Perspective

Lastly, the ultimate benefit of a prolonged job search is in the perspective you gain from knowing what’s out there.  If you were to get a job offer the first time out, you wouldn’t have the advantage of getting to see the inside of multiple other companies. I find this to be particularly appropriate for bloggers since, what we gain in this perspective, we readily turn into content. {Insert Appropriate Comic Laughter Here}

Honestly, there is no one true way to get that love-at-first-sight job opportunity.  In fact, unless you are able to divine the one company with the one culture at the one time they need your singular skill set, you’re probably going to have to kiss a few professional frogs along the way.

In the meantime, I know its hard…TRUST ME, I know. However, the upside of this is that, as long as you don’t stop trying, you’ll find something.  All you can really do is have some fun along the way.

Tags: 2009, embrace the suck, Interviewing, job search, MBA, mba careers