Network Like Crazy

Having been mentally without traction in my job search for some time, I called my friend Lee to get some perspective. Lee and I have known each other for almost 10 years from when we worked together at an outplacement firm. He has an MBA plus another masters degree, more than a decade of executive recruiting experience and a very polished, articulate presentation.

He is also super disciplined. Lee has been in his own job search for over 7 months and in that time he has conducted 196 informational interviews with business leaders across the country. From 9 -6 every weekday he works on finding his next job. And, because he has a mortgage in the Bay Area, he has spent half of his retirement savings just staying afloat. The day I called happened to be the day that his unemployment ran out.

For all of those challenges, he still sounded upbeat and had his sense of humor about him. When I inquired how he had maintained his spirits he replied "beta-blockers." Turns out, all the same anxiety, sleeplessness and sense of futility I'd experienced he had experienced too.

While it helped to talk with someone walking the same path, it also scared me. I don't have the luxury of spending that kind of time on a search neither do I have the temperament. If someone with Lee's credentials and verve can't get traction, holy crap -- am I ever going to be reemployed?

I am up against not wanting to do the work I did when I was last salaried and unsure how to reposition myself in the marketplace. It's not enough to tell a potential employer "I just don't want to do HR." So I continue to spin my wheels and wonder if I should go get me some beta blockers too.