Quest for Personal Mission

Writing a personal mission statement is something I've been thinking about doing for about a year and a half now. During the summer of 2008, I interned with Montgomery County, Virginia and assisted Division Directors with thinking through and writing out their Division's mission statement, performance goals, and strategic plan for achieving them. I remember thinking that the skills I learned in my internship could be used in my own personal life as a way of casting vision for my future. I never got around to actually putting pen to paper on this topic, but the job search process has required me to put a lot of energy into considering identity questions - Who am I? Who do I want to be? What do I care about? What type of job would I like to have? Where do I want to live? What talents and skills do I have to offer? How has my past affected who I've become and who I'll be? What weaknesses inhibit me from realizing my dreams?...and the list goes on.

A friend of mine (Callie) posted an article on this blog a couple of weeks ago that reminded me of my goal to write a personal mission statement. I can totally relate to what the author says:

"Much of my early career was spent in frustration -- too much time spent worrying about my next step and a lot of floundering whenever I faced an important career decision. What I was missing was a core mission to refer back to, something to guide my decisions by tying them to my aspirations. I discovered that you gain inner strength when you define your deepest priorities. By writing them down, I was able to distinguish them from distractions that didn't contribute to fulfilling my life's mission. Clarifying your personal philosophy will help you in a similar way: If you know your life's goals, aspirations, and priorities and have a strong sense of what you stand for, these tenets will guide your career (and life) decisions. If you don't have a sense of your overall direction, you will get lost somewhere along the way...direction determines destination and it takes some reflection to find that major direction inside of you. I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change."

One of the benefits of being unemployed is that I have ample time to reflect on these things. I think it's finally time for me to follow through on writing out my personal mission statement. In the past, I've always just kind of taken things step by step; which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I've never felt like I had direction in my decision-making or an end destination in mind. I wouldn't say that I want that destination to be a certain job, location, or salary. I think the "destination" the author is referring to is larger than that - it's figuring out who you are and who you want to be. The "direction" is learning how to make life decisions that align with the destination you're pursuing.

For further reading, you can view the entire article Callie posted at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2010_01_15/caredit.a1000007

Job Searching as Dating

Like many job searchers, staying home everyday in front of the computer worrying about when I'll find a job can be tiresome. Many people have advised me to take some time off from job searching and to take a few short trips to get out of my normal routine (which can be depressing). Earlier this month, I decided to do that and spent a few days in Blacksburg visiting old friends and re-energizing myself so that I could press forward in my quest once I returned to Richmond. I also took the opportunity to visit several of my Blacksburgian professors and mentors to ask for advice. One professor, a particularly wise one, told me: "Consider your relationship to job hunting as two puzzles that are in desperate need to match and complete each other." So true - the trick is to find a job for which you are neither underqualified nor overqualified...a job that when you read the description, it's as if the employer is describing you. It also got me thinking about how job searching is like dating....

I've never used an online dating service, but I'd imagine that the process is pretty similar to job searching online. You sift through hundreds of profiles (job descriptions), mostly duds and losers, only to find a handful that seem worth pursuing. Then you develop a personal profile (resume and cover letter)designed to convince the selected few potential winners that you're a great catch. You click send and wait to see if they think enough of you to contact you back. Weeks pass and you begin to worry that somehow your message to the potential match was somehow lost in the black abyss of the internet. You wonder if you should email again, or better yet call, but ultimately you just sit by the phone and wait.

Once months pass and you still don't get a response, you decide to test out those dating sites that promise that their patented compatibility matching systems will pre-screen candidates and find the perfect match for you based on a survey and a few clicks indicating your personal preferences. Funny how the language used by e-Harmony to attract clients is almost exactly the same as what CareerBuilder uses: "Based on your activity we used our patent-pending recommendation engine to find jobs (matches) for you." So, you give it a try and spend hours carefully thinking through responses to their series of questions, because the system won't work unless you're completely honest. You click finish and eagerly anticipate what jobs are considered your "top matches".....loading.....still loading...."WOW! They must be finding a ton of great options!".....the results? Delivery Driver, Warehouse Associate, Pest Control Technician. I kid you not...those were my results on CareerBuilder. I have officially lost all faith in online job matching systems.

I guess I'll have to keep searching through other means for that puzzle piece that completes me....it must be out there somewhere!

Thoughts from a recent grad and young professional...

Some recent thoughts from a friend of mine (who was successful at finding a job when she graduated). A good reminder that there are other more heart-wrenching things happening in the world besides the high unemployment rate....

"So, it's been over a year since I've had my current job as an international project coordinator. I've had some great experiences and learned a lot in the beginning, but I've definitely had more than my fair share's of work problems. However, in light of all the bad news I've been hearing around the world and close to home, I've become more appreciative of what I have (job security) or don't have. At the moment, some of us feel overworked (with school, jobs, or both-eeek!) and/or feel unappreciated and underpaid (some of us even with no income at all). In these trying times, it is easy to be frustrated, feel rejected and hopeless. So, I encourage you all to read the stories that are being reported from Haiti and I hope they will shed some light on all of us to really be thankful and be as resilient as those who are much less fortunate than us."

The Quest for a Profession...

Webster defines a profession as "a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation." I agree with that definition, however, I would also add a footnote: "after requiring long and intensive academic preparation, the process of finding a job within your profession will most likely be extremely challenging and arduous and will necessitate persistence and resolute confidence tested by innumerable rejections."

I currently find myself in the midst of the quest for employment, as do about 26 million other Americans. I graduated from college in May 2009 after 7 years of higher education, and have been trying to figure out how to manage in the "real world" ever since. Six interviews and zero job offers later, I've decided to begin documenting some of my experiences, the lessons I've learned, and the advice I've gleaned from mentors and friends. My hope is that this blog will be more than just an outlet for my frustration and a productive use for my overabundance of free time. I hope it will encourage others who also find themselves unemployed, students who are about to graduate, and friends who do have jobs (both those who enjoy what they do and those who don't). I'd also love to include a diversity of perspectives and thoughts on this topic, so if you'd like to add something, feel free to post a comment or send me a blog entry to add to the discussion.