Sunday, November 23, 2008

Painful Job Search

Hola, JustTalk Readers! It's me, Carmen from La Petite Belle, and I'm here to entertain you today while Dana is away in Vegas, baby!!!!If you read my blog (who am I kidding, right?) you would know that I just ended the longest and most painful job search that has ever existed in the history of mankind. I've had a job become unavailable right after I decided that job was my life's purpose, and of course bad days when I felt I simply could not go on. I also had days (ok, a day) when I decided to look at the positive side of being unemployed, telling myself that being unemployed means I can wait for the mailman to deliver my latest Victoria's Secret online purchase while everyone else sits in a cubicle doing boring paperwork.

Anyway, it is all over after I got the best ever job offer yesterday. After two nerve-wracking interviews and being one of 20 candidates, apparently they saw something in me (although I'm not quite sure what?). And now it's a thing of the past.So I want to share with you some tips.
Are you job searching? Good, now let's get started.

1) Don't be too picky.

In the beginning, I would walk into interviews like I was the CEO if a multi-million dollar company walking into a room of people who were there to convince me hire them. That obviously wasn't the case and I quickly learned my lesson. Have a humble attitude, which I lacked until very, very recently (ha-ha) and a desire to show the employer why you would be the best pick, and you've made an impression. Don't negotiate until after you receive an offer. Say "yes, yes and yes", and when you get the job, then you can say "yes, no, and maybe".

2) Don't get too excited.

We've all heard the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" or something like that. It's so true, because after being rejected the first time, I thought my world was ending. I felt useless, as I scrunched the regret letter I got in the mail, opened it back up again and wrote "I HATE YOU" all over it with a sharpie. If you have tons of options, you won't get devastated after one rejection. Or maybe I'm just a super-sensitive girl with obvious anger issues.

3) Don't send thank you cards to all employers after the interview.

Because now, I have no pretty stationary left. Although the job I got makes it totally worth it, and I'll probably be able to afford a new stationary set in the near future, seriously, what if I didn't get this job? I'd be unhappy, broke, and out of pretty stationary which has my name all pretty in cursive. So save your pretty stationary for the good jobs- the ones you really like. You wouldn't get out the fancy soap for when your sister comes over, would you?

And that is all. I hope you learn from my mistakes, and while you're home browsing for jobs on Monster, why don't you stop by my blog and say hola?

4 comments:

Stephanie Olsen said...

Is it bad that I laughed at this? Only because I have totally done EVERYTHING you say not to do! Great tips girl, and CONGRATULATIONS again!

Auburn Kat said...

It's so hard when you are looking for a job to not get too excited!

Ashley // Our Little Apartment said...

Oooh, I HATE job searching. I will be embarking on one next summer and I am already filled with dread!

Sarah Elizabeth said...

What a cute post! I am about to graduate from college in May and can use any and all help I can get in the job searching realm. I love your writing style and am definitely headed over to your blog right now!