After doing a radio interview for WPR, I received an email from a listener containing some great job search advice. Her message reminded me of the success story I shared last week from one of my clients who was homing in on three job offers at once; this week’s story is from someone who set that as her goal. Together with the Job Search Success Survey Results from two weeks ago, they make a complete package! Here’s what Mary Beth, WPR listener, has to say (can you spot the empowering self-talk and empowering actions throughout?):
Mary Beth’s Story
One trick I used early in my career to motivate myself was to adopt the goal of getting three attractive job offers at once. This may sound preposterous or ludicrous, but here is why I found it worked for me and others with whom I shared the idea:
- The job hunt becomes a game… Instead of feeling desperate like “Oh man, I really need a job” … it was more like “Can I possibly do this? It seems challenging, but I won’t know if I don’t try. Let’s just see!” It is more motivating to try to get three attractive job offers than to shoot for just one.
- It offers a position of strength at a time when you might feel vulnerable. Even when you are unemployed, you will feel much less dependent upon any one job opportunity if you are trying to find three attractive opportunities. This stretch goal encourages you to keep building momentum even when you have one or two good prospects, because you really don’t know if they will pan out. You won’t allow yourself to “coast” with a few good leads if you are pushing for three attractive offers.
- It allows you to objectively know your worth. If you can bring multiple job offers to life at the same time, you are in a much better bargaining position. Maybe one employer offers less money, but benefits you really value (flexible hours, more vacation time, an office vs. a cubicle). You can always use the terms of one offer to ask a prospective employer to enhance either the benefits package or the salary offering. Sometimes employers don’t have flexibility, but often they do.
- It leads to bigger salary increases. Early in my career, I was able to increase my salary $20-25,000 from one job to another using this strategy. This was much better than 3-5% annual raises one usually receives while waiting for managers to decide to promote you.
Is looking for three job offers more work than looking for a single job? Probably. Is it more fun? Absolutely.
To be honest, I never was able to bring three offers to life simultaneously, but frequently I was capable of bringing two to life at the same time. Sometimes the third opportunity turned into a viable offer down the road.
I learned to target my resume for the next step up and truly LOVE the job search.
MORE Empowering Self-Talk
Did you hear that folks? It is possible to LOVE the job search process! If you don’t, it might help to try Mary Beth’s strategy of seeking three offers instead of one. This strategy was underlying the success story last week as well. Or, engage in more of the empowering self-talk and empowering actions outlined in the Job Search Success Survey Results.
There are limitless resources available to you – both your own internal resources and supportive external ones. Are you making the most of both of them? If you are, keep it up! And if not, consider that it might be time to start.
