Monday Mission July 23, 2012

How to job search: putting the pieces together.

Job searching is a lot like putting an easy to assemble item together. You need all the pieces if you want the finished product to resemble the diagram. Miss a piece or step in the directions and the anticipated outcome may not be achieved. Identifying the missing piece or pieces may not be easy, however.

An incident in my kitchen recently drove this point home. While unloading the dishwasher the top shelf seemed to stick. I looked and there didn't seem to be a dish lodged anywhere, so I yanked. Hard. The shelf came free! A small piece flew past my head and I couldn’t tell where it went. Satisfied with the newly freed shelf I unloaded the dishwasher and quickly forgot the incident.

The next day as I loaded the dishwasher I noticed something was not quite right. I could guess it had to do with the missing piece, but didn't have time to deal with it. I used the dishwasher several times, fussing with the shelf each time and knowing it wasn't working properly. The shell was moving! Dishes were being washed! I knew somehow that one small, missing piece was causing the hang up and occasional derailment of the top shelf.

I did not know what or where the small piece was. While cleaning the kitchen a week or so later I found a small plastic form in a far corner. It looked like SOMETHING that could be important. I set it on the windowsill and finished my chores. I really didn't have time to give it more thought. I had things to do!

A few days later my daughter and her boyfriend came for a weekend visit. Right away she noticed the top shelf was not quite working. She called on her boyfriend to look at it (he is a hands on kind of guy?!:-) he spent a few minutes adjusting everything possible and declared it was all he could do. It wasn't working properly. But, it WAS working!

A day or so after they left, my husband opened the kitchen windows and asked about the small plastic part. I looked at it closely. Hmmm, something was ringing a bell. I examined it closely and turned it all around and gave it some thought....Eureka!

I opened the offending appliance and saw the thin oval whole where the plastic part originally resided. After a quick assessment I flipped over the part and fit it into the end of the top left rail. I pushed the shelf in and pulled it out. A small adjustment to one of the rollers and it was working perfectly!

Who would have thought such a small piece could make such a big difference? It occurs to me that job search is like that: One small piece can make a big difference! Finding that piece isn't always easy, but finding and fitting it in can make a world of difference:

1. Pay attention to the small parts of your job search.
2. Take the time to give your job search some thought.
3. Assess what is working and what isn't.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
4. Remember to regularly evaluate the help you are getting.
5. It may take multiple attempts and different methods to get the results you are looking for.

Apply these points to your job search and you will see the results!