to the Outer Ring
➔ A job search can be a grind. A job search can be frustrating and infuriating. A job search can be an ordeal. A job search can be all those things… and more. Mainly because a job search is a process.
Although some Nifty50s, when they find themselves out in the job market again, take that opportunity to – by choice – go in an entirely different direction, most do not. Most job seekers start looking at precisely the same spot where they left. Not at the same company of course, but they begin by looking for the same type of job in the same industry. That’s where their experience is and that is where their comfort zone is.
That sounds only natural. But as time marches on and patience begins to wear thin and job seekers begin to feel anxious, they begin to cast their eyes in other directions.
Time to circle the wagons?
Think of concentric circles. At the outset you’re looking at the bull’s eye, the target, the very center of the circle – the same job, the same industry. As time goes by, you start looking at the ring next to the center. That may mean looking for the same job, but in a different industry. Or the reverse might be true – looking for a different job in the same industry. But you’re trying to stay as close to your comfort zone as possible.
If that proves unsuccessful, the job seeker then moves to the next level, the outer ring of the circle where you’re looking outside your direct past experience to something very different. It’s a function of time. The longer one has been unemployed, the wider the circle becomes.
Not to worry. It’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just part of the process and it’s all very natural.
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