The Danger of Being an Optimist in Job Search

Are you too optimistic about your job search? Finding a job, receiving great benefits and securing a salary that meets your lifestyle needs is a lot harder than it sounds. While being diligent will allow you to land the job of your dreams, being an optimist does come with a lot of faults and a warning of caution.

Optimism causes the job seeker to make mistakes. These mistakes include:

1. Assuming the Search Will Be Fast

Do you truly believe you’ll land a job in 4 to 8 weeks? While it can happen, chances are you’ll be searching for a job for longer. Depending on your field and the current economic conditions, the average posting will yield 118 applicants. Only 20 percent of applicants will land an interview.

It takes 2 weeks to hear back from an interview if you did land the job. Expect the job search to take up to 16 weeks.

2. Working Only With Recruiters

Let’s face the facts, letting someone else find you a job is a smart choice, but it’s unrealistic. Recruiters are an asset that should be used to find a job, but they only account for 10% of all job listings. Essentially, you’re not open to the other 90% of jobs matching your criteria. Instead, you’ll also want to put in the hard work and conduct a daily search for potential jobs.

Setup notifications on job search sites, such as JobTonic.com, and make sure you apply to new jobs daily. This will accelerate your chances of landing a job faster.

3. Not Expanding Your Network

You know a lot of people and you have impeccable skills, but this isn’t enough. Your network can never be big enough. Instead, you’ll want to expand your network as much as possible in hopes of making vital industry connections.

Instead, you want to:

 Go to conferences

 Attend local meet-up groups

 Use social media

Get your name out there and talk to as many people as possible.

4. Assuming You’ll Get the Job

Optimists always assume that they’ll get the job. After all, who wouldn’t want your wealth of experience and hard work ethic? Unfortunately, even a person with more experience may not be a good fit for the company.

Putting your eggs all in one basket is a recipe for disaster. Even if the interview goes well, there’s a chance you won’t get the job. Never wait to hear back from a potential employer without continually applying for new jobs.

As we stated before, it can take 2 weeks to hear back from an interview. During this time, you could have landed 5 – 10 more interviews, increasing your chance of employment. If you stay idle because you thought you were going to get the job, you would have wasted valuable time that would have been better spent applying for other positions.

Confidence and optimism are a great asset, but they can also be your worst enemy. If you find yourself being too optimistic, step back into reality and realize that over 100 other people likely applied for the job.