"Hey, pal, your excuses are your own!"

Ricky Roma’s admonition from the movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, rang loudly in the back of my mind. The situation was beginning to get out of hand.

I had resigned my position prior to beginning a serious job search. The motives underlying my decision will be left for another day. The salient point here is that the normal procedure for career advancement (get a job, then quit) was disregarded.

“I’ll temp for a while until I land something permanent,” was the thought process, although the use of the word “thought” here is debatable.

Good intentioned people wished me luck. Others questioned my sanity. Who could blame them?

"Hey, pal, your excuses are your own!"

The job search became an all-consuming enterprise. From the relative isolation of my home office, with 24/7 access to job information, day and night became indistinguishable. There was no schedule, as in the framed hours of the workday, to guide my efforts. If I was awake, I was looking for a job. Social contacts were minimal, at best, as I hunkered down to the task at hand.

With each delay, setback, or missed opportunity, I found myself imagining the worst. Have I miscalculated my abilities by that much? Was what I left behind as good as it was ever going to get? Surely, this just couldn’t be true. Could it?

I had heard all of the excuses: underqualified, overqualified, why did you quit? Yada, yada, yada …

I began to suffer from “Three Bears” syndrome. Would I ever find the job that was just right?

I need help, but I am hesitant to ask. Nothing seems normal anymore as the strain of uncertainty begins to take its’ toll. Simple things develop unanticipated complexities. The future seems scarier than usual. I remain steadfast, head held high, as I peer into the abyss. My predicament is viewed as self-imposed. After all, I did quit. I must be insane!

"Hey, pal, your excuses are your own!"

There’s that voice again. What have I done?

Then it happens.

I’m asked to participate in a preliminary phone interview. That conversation results in an invitation to meet. I feel that the interviews at the office go well, but I’m afraid to get too excited. I’ve been down this road before.

References are checked, additional questions are asked, and time marches on. I try not to wait by the phone, but I do. I check for new Email incessantly.

Finally, the much anticipated offer letter arrives.

Thank you, Lord!

Job Search Do's and Don'ts

• Don’t do as I did -- leave first, search later -- as doing so will only introduce angst into the job search process.
• Do always believe in yourself.
• Do remember Ricky Roma’s admonition. "Hey, pal, your excuses are your own!"