The Six Stages of Unemployment: No. 2: Rejection

I know this paints a grim picture, but one of the requirements for being out of work is being rejected. That's what you do now. You get people to say no to you, as often as possible, until, to torture an overburdened cliche', you get to yes.
Because unless it's a job offer that you decline, which is rather uncommon in today's market, as long as you stay out of work you're going to hear two things repeatedly.
The first is"no".
The second is "not yet".
Every CV sent out, every interview that does NOT end with a job offer is a rejection, if you look at it as a binary. It's yes or it's no.
Either you're hired or you're not.
And after a while, "buck up, little camper" wears a bit thin.
This is where it gets really tough. Every day can seem like another long dark night of the soul.
How do you weather it?
Again, let yourself feel it first. Work through those emotions as honestly and quickly as you can. Then get back to work, if you've stopped for that part of the process.
The work:
Ask yourself the necessary questions. Is my material up to snuff? Do my CV, cover letter, portfolio and references say what I want them to say about me as a professional?
But don't JUST look to yourself. consider external possibilities, or you run the risk of magnifying every aspect of your life into a series of failures. And down that path lies doom. Wallowing in despair has an indolent appeal to some, but the pay is lousy. So look to external, as well as internal, factors in your rejections. Some, possibly many, of the reasons you're not hired may have little or nothing to do with you.
In that sense, although it's a major part of your life, it's not necessarily personal.
They might have had someone else in mind for the position all along. The interviewer might have had a lousy day. The interviewer's own job might be at risk. In some (very few) cases, the interview process is just a way of building a pool of available applicants in anticipation of a later turnover, or possibly with an eye towards an internal restructuring.
The thing is that even if you ask, you can't always know.
And the way I see it, it's fine to ask. If the company in question has decided on someone else, trying to find out what factors went into the decision is valid. It has a couple risks. You might be seen as a sore loser, or desperate.
Sidebar: I've never understood why it's bad for someone in a desperate situation to seem desperate. It's not a poker game, it's your career. So long as you don't bring your emotional issues to the interview table and embarrass the interviewer, I see nothing wrong with being quite clear that you both want and need the job. Why else ould you be asking for it?
But by asking why you were rejected, you can learn not only about any missteps in your job search dance, but possibly learn a bit more about the career in which you seek to advance.
The second thing, "not yet", can be much harder to hear.
"We don't have anything for your exact talents at the moment" implies that the organization may have a need for you down the line. All well and good, but most people looking for work have imminent needs.
When you hear this, it's vital to plan a time frame to check back with them. I often make such inquiries when told this. If you are given a time frame is vague, or no specific time frame at all, pick an arbitrary time based on industry trends. In most cases, 4 - 6 weeks is a reasonable time to check back.  Then immediately add that follow-up to your datebook, planner or whatever organizational tool serves your process.
Next: Stage 3.

Job Fairs and surprises

I'm wrong more often than I care to admit.
For example, yesterday I attended a Job Fair at a local for-profit college.
I thought it would live up to Bart Simpson's axiom, that it's possible for something to suck and blow at the same time.
My previous experience with such things has been less than satisfactory. I've been exposed to people trying to talk me into schools I had little or no interest in attending, menial jobs with little pay and no future, and the brutal and unrewarding (to me, at least) world of cold-call sales.
This time it was different.
A different batch of employment options.  A different batch of employers. A more receptive and less mercenary batch of recruiters.
Everyone was honest. Everyone was genuinely respectful and enthusiastic.
And I met a number of people with whom I might be happy working.
I even got a very real lead on my favorite type of work, teaching college!
So what was different this time?
The economy was different. It's been at least a decade since I last attended one of these.
My skill level was different. Last time I went to a job fair, i was unfocused, trying to find ANY job, with career experience that no longer worked in a changing marketplace.
Most significantly, I was different.
It reminds me of the old Mark Twain joke: "when I was 18, my old man was stupid. By the time i was 25, I was amazed at how much smarter he'd become."
I don't pretend to understand everything. But I think I've learned that the cynicism and fear that I used to use to shield myself from my own real or perceived inadequacies didn't work. I also learned a bit about respecting people who chose paths in life other than mine. In being more open to them, I learned that I could get more from experiencing them. I know how hokey that sounds, but it has vast application to the job search process.

It's an old saw that you and a prospective employer are interviewing each other. Take that a step farther. While it is far from the primary function of the interaction, it's also possible, and in many cases more than worthwhile, to learn something about the person you're interviewing, and in so doing, expand your knowledge of yourself. That in turn increases your potential assets that you can offer to an employer.
Employers, at least smart ones, don't hire resumes or recommendations. They hire people.
That doesn't mean your qualifications don't matter. Those are what get employers to listen to you as a candidate in the first place. But once your CV has their attention, they're not talking to a piece of paper, they're talking to you.
Give them someone worth talking to.

Book review: I Found A Job!

In my ongoing reassessment of career, I occasionally turn to job search manuals, which I have found to be of limited help in the past.
This time out, I looked for one such manual/self-help book that said something more pragmatic than the rest, one that honestly addressed the daily needs of a job seeker.
Marcia Heroux Ponds' I Found a Job! is half of that book (note: two separate links there, one for the author,the other for the book).

My big problem with these books is simple. They fail to recognize the reality of the situation. This one is more practical than many, but still has a myopia that's chafing.
Case in point.
It's great advice to save up six months of living expenses in anticipation of being out of work. Pounds recommends nine months to a year's worth as a more pragmatic goal. Well, it's quite pragmatic, but people don't always have that luxury. Some paychecks aren't sufficient to that end. And sometimes things happen so suddenly there's no time to prepare. So if you're out of work and haven't already done that, it's worthless advice.
Along the same lines, yes, it's a good idea to present yourself professionally at all times when you're unemployed. It's true, you never know what situation will spontaneously become a job interview. It happened to me a few weeks ago, submitting an application for a PT gig and suddenly finding myself chatting up the manager about my career goals and the skills I have to offer. Me standing there in jeans! I addressed the situation directly, acknowledging that this is not appropriate attire for an interview, and was reassured by the manager that yes, she was aware of that and that it wouldn't count against me. I pointed out that my clothes were clean and in good repair, and we have a nice chuckle about it. Situation saved. I still have a shot at that job, which won't open up for another few weeks and could serve me well for a long time.
So what's wrong with that advice then? Why not present professionally at all times? Seems reasonable.
Sure it is.
But.
Well, you should as much as possible, but when you're out of work, your resources diminish and it's not always possible. When you have fewer resources, you have to plan their use very strategically.
To end a sentence with an infinitive, it also depends on what kind of work you're out of.
That's my big problem with this book and many like it. They presume that everyone is a business professional with an established career. There's little or no acknowledgment of people who have unorthodox career paths or don't work for Fortune 500 companies.
Again, this book is better than many in that respect. There's a chapter devoted to carving out your own career path. There's some laudable and pragmatic advice for folks considering a freelance career or a business startup. And I suppose there are unemployed people who have the resources to buy a franchise, one of the options Ms. Pounds suggests.
But like much of the advice in this book and others of its ilk, it's not always practical. Yes, networking is a good idea, one I practice as much as possible, though I prefer to think of it as nurturing friendships and seeing career growth as a happy dividend of that. But I'm sorry, when I'm managing limited funds, I'm not skipping off to the local coffee shop daily as she suggests.
In fairness, it needs to be noted that Ms. Ponds is a business columnist for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and so is likely to approach the issue from a corporate standpoint. But we're not all in the corporate world, and it would be refreshing to read a job search book that fully recognized that fact.
This may seem harsh and nitpicky, but there are realities that people who are in a job search have to face.
This book is better than many in facing these realities, but it seems largely aimed at people looking for high-end jobs. That's not all of us, and it shouldn't be. Despite a largely practical chapter on managing finances while job seeking, this book glosses over a crucial fact.
Yes, looking for a job is a job. But it's a pro bono job. While you have this job, you are your only client. And in many cases, you can't afford to pay yourself what you're worth.
Negotiating the strategies of daily life with a reduced or no income while looking for work requires tremendous strength and a great skill set, including the capacity to strategically approach a crisis.
Those skills and strengths are of great use in many, dare I say, most jobs.
The challenge is getting an employer to see them!