This week, it would appear, has been themed around connections. I’ve spoken with so many people, either on prearranged calls, at in-person events or messages and calls out of the blue and while I’ve also had 2 ‘No’s’ to job applications this week, I am on a high and feeling very positive.
I’ve explored why that is and, in a blog post that’s likely barely going to scratch the surface of this topic - I believe it’s the people, human interaction, feeling seen and being heard that has helped me this week. Having explored my ‘Why’ recently (a la Simon Sineck’s Golden Circles) I now recognise that I hold these things in high regard, they matter to me. So it’s no shock, really, that I am feeling like I am. But why do these things matter?
Human interaction
We’re social animals, aren’t we, so it goes without saying that extended periods on our own aren’t great for our overall well-being. And the job hunt can be, amongst other things, lonely. Repeating the same conversations with recruiters can be an energy drain as it’s hard to maintain energy and enthusiasm when you feel like a broken record. Not to mention, the deep concentration needed for reading job descriptions and adapting the CV accordingly, crafting a cover letter that makes your application stand out and, if you’re a designer, obsessing about not only the content of your portfolio but the layout and balance of words and images. Yikes! No one else to do that work other than you. And so, we spend inordinate amounts of time flying solo, likely at home, pecking around on LinkedIn and the like. There’s only one direction the energy level’s going to go and it's not up. And as the energy level drops, you can imagine so too does morale, positivity and self-belief.
The antidote to this, from my experience this week, is people - real connection and conversations. Even direct messages and texts can help, but I’d argue nothing comes to close to creating zest and energy than a proper eye-to-eye conversation and luckily, I’ve had 2 events this week where I’ve been in the physical company of others. One was a networking event at Booking.com, where it was great to put faces to names of members of the Design and People Teams and the other was a blissful yoga and relaxation session with poetry, song and a live harpist and cellist. Both were very different, of course, but both have helped in my progress this week; one very tangibly - I’ve met with people in the industry who can likely help with my job search and the other in a way that’s enabled deep rest and a quietening of the mind - batteries now fully recharged.
Feeling seen and being heard
Our own story is unique to us, yet it can be quite easy (without the intervention of others) to hear about other people’s stories of job-hunting and our imagination takes over believing that that outcome is destined for us, too. I experienced this, this week when I was on my phone late in the evening (mistake number one) on LinkedIn reading someone’s post who has been job-hunting for the best part of a year and still had no joy with securing a role. Cue a downward spiral - if that’s happened to them, why wouldn’t that happen to me? I shared my concerns with my husband (see, you don’t have to necessarily look too far for those connections that can help) and he listened to me pour out my concerns, without dismissing my worries, he simply offered an alternative perspective and shared his thoughts on some worst-case scenario planning he’d been doing. Hearing his perspective really helped lift the dark cloud that had started to gather and my levity and positivity came back. I’ve reflected on this chat we had and I’d summarise it with this:
Sharing thoughts and our stories - either the ones we've lived or imagined - can help us to shift perspective.
I’ve also met some kindred (hippy) spirits along my path this week - and not just in the yoga class, surprisingly! This has definitely helped me to feel seen and heard - simply by us speaking the same language and viewing life from a similar vantage point. They say “Your vibe attracts your tribe” and I’ve felt this, this week. From a coaching call helping me to vocalise what I want and “project it to the universe”, a conversation with a charity founder who declared my offer of support as a “shining light on an otherwise dreary day” and a chat with the leader of a coaching program who said “you speak my language” when I referred to building a team as creating magic. These are not one-off connections and I feel grateful that my journey has led me to be in contact with these 3 great women who share my wavelength.
People
Ultimately, it’s always about people for me. Either the people we’re designing products for or the people in my team or the stakeholders we work with - I just want to help others. I see this in shifting blockers and obstacles, understanding needs and concerns and also connecting dots and enabling connection. All things I’ve done in the teams I’ve built and now, I’m applying the same principles in my current (albeit team-less) situation - through creating space for fellow job seekers to meet on a Google Hangout on a Monday and Friday morning, to my first ADPList mentoring session as well as putting people in contact with agencies or people if I see a helpful connection.
This isn’t at the detriment of my own needs either, as there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that when we help others it has a profound impact on our own well-being - another mood booster and enabler to accomplish our goals and creates the positive outlook we need for success. So riding this high-vibrational energy created from helping and connecting with others has helped me in applying for 3 more roles this week, volunteering for a charity and agreeing to join a Women in Leadership round table event, amongst other things.
This isn’t at the detriment of my own needs either, as there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that when we help others it has a profound impact on our own well-being - another mood booster and enabler to accomplish our goals and creates the positive outlook we need for success. So riding this high-vibrational energy created from helping and connecting with others has helped me in applying for 3 more roles this week, volunteering for a charity and agreeing to join a Women in Leadership round table event, amongst other things.
One other piece of advice I got this week was to trust that the things I am doing away from submitting actual applications will bring opportunities to me. So, if you’re feeling at a low ebb or that you’re not submitting enough applications or you’ve not spent enough time on your CV, remember all things are interconnected - we are all connected and things you are doing are what you need and that they still progress you along your journey.