Self Improvement and the Waiting Game

The waiting game. Anxiety. I have been told that the average time it takes to find a job is 6-8 months.

I’ve grown over the past 6 months in ways that I can’t always express in a phone interview. Toward the end of last week in Boston, I began to tell people at hiring interviews that I was “really starting to have fun with this.” Although that could be interpreted sarcastically, I meant it 100 percent.

I used to be the kid that had trouble going to parties, that was shy when meeting people, that had difficulty “putting myself out there.” Sure, it’s a process and I’m not “cured” as of yet. But this extended search has given me the chance to put that mindset behind me. I have to be grateful for that. It was nice when I stopped being apprehensive about interviews and started to approach them as conversations, as meeting different kinds of people, as an adventure, etc.

What helped me to have this attitude is actually that I haven’t yet received an offer. I cut down on the self-criticism and stopped expecting results. I realized to not take this lack of offers personally, as I continued to hear again and again:

“We aren’t hiring right now, but that could change at any moment.”

As I began to stop viewing my job search as a failure because I wasn’t getting the desired result, I have been able to loosen up and enjoy the process of meeting with people. Everyone is different. Everyone has a story. Many of the people I talk to have been in my position before, and want to help.

I’m lucky to be in the position to look for a job in the way that I am. Sure, I’m on pins and needles waiting for potential offers from a few companies, but my anxiety is tempered because if there is no offer, there’s more travel, more cities, more interviews, more adventure, more growth. Either way I’ll be fine.