At some point during your working life, you will find yourself looking for a new job. There are a wide range of circumstances that may bring you to that point, ranging from retiring from public or military service; corporate reorganizations and/or leadership changes; you’re terminated; you resign; the location at which you work is destroyed; your company collapses financially; or you just want to advance your career in a new environment. While each of these circumstances may influence how you will position yourself during the job search, there are a number of common factors that place immense stress on an already difficult process.
We are referring to the actual activities in which you will be engaged to obtain your next role. This is a major life-changing event that is highly personal because as you begin to develop your messaging, letters, resumes and yes, “your 20-second elevator speech,” you must communicate who you are, what you have accomplished and those things of which you are most proud. You need to prepare yourself for rejection. Almost all candidates; no matter what experience level, background, previous recognition or highly visible role they have held, have been in this position. Just imagine having had a successful career progressing to some of the highest levels in your field, and not being able to get a potential employer’s HR department to drop you a note, return a call or even acknowledge you. This is culture shock for anyone who is accustomed to being in a leadership role.