Thanksgiving week helps remind us of our blessings. As we reminisce and celebrate, we are thankful for many events throughout the year. Thinking of a job search as a blessing can sound paradoxical, but your job search can change your career path for the better. Over the years, I’ve had numerous job seekers tell me that changing jobs actually improved their lives by relieving a tremendous amount of stress and giving them a new-found sense of freedom.
A change of employment status can force you to step out of your comfort zone, and that results in benefits that are difficult to predict. The side effects of loss can be seen as gains as you develop broader friendships, receive unexpected leads from people you’ve just met or discover your most-important priorities, such as your health and your family.
When you’re working, it’s easy to take your skills for granted and never stop to think about the specific tasks you do that make your daily routine successful. A job search requires that you identify what makes you valuable to an employer, and the pay off is the insight you gain into what makes you unique. Your previous role could have — in some ways — prevented you from growing.
Your job search gives you the opportunity to reconnect with people as you network, learn how to stretch your comfort zone and take the steps toward a role that might be of more interest to you. Your next job could be just what you needed to move forward.
This week, when the focus is on counting your blessings, be mindful of what your job search is teaching you, what you are learning from it and how it will help you reinvent yourself.
