Lucky you. It’s Friday the 13th.
The question of the day is what part does “luck” play in your job search (regardless of your age.) The answer, of course, is that sometimes it is a factor.
Being in the right place at the right time is something that many will ascribe to “luck.” Walking in the door of a company when someone else is walking out (metaphorically speaking.) That could be considered luck.
Obviously, we are not necessarily speaking literally here. There aren’t many 21st Century job seekers who physically walk from employer to employer in search of their next positions. Today, “walking in the door” may take the form of making the right phone call; submitting an online resume at the right time; reaching out to someone you know; meeting someone at a networking event. The list goes on.
What are these job seekers doing right?
If you re-read the previous paragraph, you may notice a common thread among our “lucky” applicants. In each scenario, the job seeker is doing something proactive. They’re not sitting back on their laurels waiting for someone to come along and offer them a job.
It harkens back to our old high school football coach who used to say, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Those job seekers may have stumbled on their opportunities, but it’s only because they were prepared.
They did their homework. They found the right people to call and then reached out. They’re out there. They’re doing it.
Sure, there are those one in a million cases where someone just happens to be in the right place at the right time. But do you want to trust your job search to “one in a million”?
When you take the time to do the preparation and proactively put yourself out in the marketplace, good things tend to happen. We have a counselor friend who says that finding a job is an accident, and our job is to create quality accidents.
So, how about you? Do you feel lucky?