Once Upon A Job Search

It was a beautiful sunny day back in June 2023. I had been through a pretty rough time exiting a Joint Venture that hadn’t worked out, but there was finally light at the end of the tunnel.

My job search had been successful and I was due to start a new job in 4 days’ time.

It was a 6-month contract with potential for extension. I’d been offered other permanent roles but had turned them down. A contract felt like an easier decision after the turmoil I’d been through in the Joint Venture. I wasn’t sure I was in the right mind to commit to a permanent role somewhere.

On that beautiful sunny day, was in the supermarket getting some supplies I got a message from someone I was due to be working with:

“Hi Sam, how are you doing? Has anyone from the business been in touch with you?”

I replied explaining that I was good, my background checks were complete and I was just waiting for the contract to be finalised. I knew who I was asking for on my first day and had a time to arrive.

They replied with:

“Buzz me when you can”

At that point a rush of dread sank through me, my hands started shaking.

Outside the supermarket, shopping in hand and I gave them a call. The programme I was supposed to start work on had gone into turmoil; my contract had been cancelled.

I was in shock. I didn’t know what to do, and couldn’t help but think about the other permanent opportunities I had turned down literally days before.

“Oh sh*t.”

I had some money in the bank to keep me going, but given that the average time to go from application to start date is 3 months (if not longer) I didn’t have much time left.

While I was out for a planned dinner that evening spending money I didn’t have, I did my best to put a brave face on, “It will be ok” I kept telling myself. I didn’t believe it though.

The next day I woke up with the same narrative that had haunted me throughout my job search.

“No one’s ever going to hire me”

(I’d left my corporate job a year previously to enter a joint venture, that I then exited a year later, it was impossible to not feel like a complete failure) I’d never felt so low and worthless.

I got up, turned on my laptop and kept searching.

I had no choice. With bills to pay and savings dwindling, I HAD to follow the process and keep looking for a job until someone hired me.

The next few weeks were awful.

After job searching each morning, absorbing the rejections and power posing before interviews that seemed never ending. I found myself wandering aimlessly in the afternoons; Hoping I might see a coffee shop or a café with a vacancy sign, “maybe I could do that for a while” I was thinking.

There were no vacancies.

At that point I was prepared to do ANYTHING to keep myself occupied and silence my inner critic.

The weeks crawled by and on a Friday morning, after forcing myself to get a shower, I slumped back on to my bed and picked up my phone for some doom scrolling. I felt so gloomy. Then I noticed I had a voicemail and a missed call…….

I got offered a job!

I didn’t even have to think about it. I called them back and accepted it. Suddenly, my world was brighter.

Luckly, whilst I had accepted the contract role, I hadn’t stopped my job search, I was still applying for things and attending interviews, just in case

After 15+ years working in recruitment, the pessimist in me thinks that nothing is real until you’re in the building (Or online) on the first day.

Job searching is hard.

When I look back on own job search, I’m so grateful for the support I had from friends and people I’ve built professional relationships with over the years.

If you’re looking for a new job, don’t go it alone and don’t stop looking until you’re meeting your manager on your first day. I’ve also written a Job Search Survival Guide which you can read here: Job Search Survival Guide – Expert Tips for Navigating Your Job Search (onceuponatechrecruiter.com)