You've been checking your phone all day. You keep it within arm's reach and never let it leave your sight. You set it on the counter while cooking. You even take it with you to the bathroom. Every time you hear it go off you drop everything you are doing to see who it is. ...it's usually your mom. When it finally is that person you have been waiting for, your heart skips a beat and you get butterflies in your stomach. Do you respond right away or do you wait? You don't want to seem too anxious. You decide to type out your response, but wait to send it. By the time you read it, re-word it, delete it, and start over 15 times, plenty of time will have passed anyway.
Job hunting is a lot like dating. You spend all of your energy making yourself look good and playing up all of your best qualities. You wait not-so-patiently for the right one. Sometimes you feel like you found a fit, but the other party disagrees. Sometimes it's the other way around. To find a potential significant other, you go to bars or parties. To find a potential employer or business prospect, you go to career fairs or workshops.
I have always sucked at dating. I am beginning to realize that I also suck at job hunting. I decided a long time ago not to chase men, but to be patient, be myself, and go with the flow as much as possible (which definitely isn't easy). Instead of worrying about being single, I focus on doing what I love and try to keep myself busy. If I find someone along the way, awesome. If not, oh well. Either way, I still get to enjoy living life. I am now going to take a similar approach to finding the perfect job. People say that you fall in love when you least expect it - usually just when you have decided that you don't want a relationship at all. I don't expect that I will wake up tomorrow and magically have 50 interview requests without putting forth any effort, but sitting around waiting for the phone to ring will not help. I am going to spend my time writing, reading, networking, and working hard to become the perfect employee, even if I don't have the job yet.
