OK. I admit its not an analogy many would draw. But, if you stop and think about it, finding a job can be like hunting down a ghostly apparition: we sometimes find ourselves in spooky locations - face-to-face with scary people - as we wait (hope) for something to materialize. Sometimes we walk away with good (hopeful) evidence: a phone call (electronic voice phenomenon); and sometimes we learn that what we're dealing with is simply not intelligent, nor human.
Here are a few other reasons our job search is like hunting ghosts:
1) You have to deal with skeptics: You have to be strong-willed to publicly announce your believe in ghosts - just ask PARANORMAN (in theatres now!). A job search is an exercise in tenacity. The economy has left us with long-term job searchers and many of them feel cheated, disillusioned, and wronged. They don't believe in themselves or the system. Don't be sucked in by negative job searchers!
2) Residual Haunting: Ask any ghost hunter about residual hauntings and they'll tell you it's a paranormal event that repeats itself again and again - and each time it is the same. Your presence doesn't change it or influence it. It's like a looped video. Often, our job search feels like we are stuck in a loop - getting the same responses again and again. Whether that answer is "no", "not enough experience", "overqualified", "not a personality fit", or something else, we have to accept this feedback and adjust our resumes, interview answers, questions, portfolio, etc.. If you keep getting this feedback, don't make the mistake of assuming "it's them"or that there's nothing you can do!
3) Gadgets & Tools: Zack Bagans loves his ghost hunting gadgets. On his Ghost Adventures TV show, he uses common ghost hunting gear as well as new & experimental tools. Zack uses an array of equipment because ghost hunting is not one-size-fits-all. Job hunters need to incorporate the same strategy. Use all the gadgets and tools at your disposal including job boards, social media, networking events and recruiters. Dialing into recruiters thru social media and networking events is also key!
Other job search / ghost busting analogies come to mind? Please post them below.
