Accept Hard Truths
BY: Ned Khatrichettri, Internship Coordinator in the College of Humanities, University of Utah
I can’t think of anything that can “prepare” you for your job search except maybe listening to or reading about another person’s experience. It’s something you just have to go through. Everyone experiences varying lengths of time and degrees of frustration, but all of your engagements–through submitting job applications, networking, and interviews–will build on each other in unimaginable and dynamic ways. Below are some hard truths worth accepting prior to your journey.
Job hunting is one of the few things in life where you simultaneously do and don’t have any control. For example, once you hit the ‘submit’ button for an online application, there’s nothing else you can do. Fill your mind with positive and healthy distractions: take a walk, apply to other positions, work out in the gym, read a book, etc.
— It’s a process that takes time. With the first role I accepted, the time from the day I applied to the day it was offered was six months. This included having to go through a six-hour Skype interview.
— You’ll have more rejections than offers; enjoying the search process and having grit can cushion the emotional exhaustion. JK Rowling is a good example of what perseverance can achieve.
— It’s a numbers game based on how many jobs you apply for, who you know, and plain luck. You can increase your luck, but you can’t control it.
Everyone goes through this process (of course, few discuss it openly), but it’s important to know that tough times don’t last; tough people do!
AUTHOR: Ned Khatrichettri is an Internship Coordinator in the College of Humanities at the University of Utah. He may be contacted at ned.khatrichettri@utah.edu.
Tags: Advice for StudentsCategorized in: Advice for Students, Career Development, Student Development
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3 Comments
Great insight, Ned! Thank you for sharing such your perspective – and it’s so true, that it is a process that takes time and can be frustrating, to say the least!
Some really useful advice here, Ned. Love the JK Rowling example.
I always tell my students that “job searching sucks” – both to get the points you mention out in the open as well as to normalize their stress. I also like to point out that rarely do people search for a position “just because”. Oftentimes we’re searching for a position because of some other, major life stressor – graduation is looming (and likely student loans), your current position is untenable, you’re moving to a new location, etc. – all are things that will already be stressing you out, and on top of that, job searching stinks.
I think it’s SO important to get these points out there and talk about the slog of job searching more, because everyone goes through it and it can be very isolating and scary.