16 Dec Career Rescue: You never know where you will find job-search surprises

By Kimberly Thompson  |  December 13, 2013     

It’s no surprise that unpredictability plays a major role in your job search, and that’s why a search is both nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.

A job candidate who recently landed a position sent me his story, and it is a great example of how your perfect job comes out of the blue. It describes the unique encounters all job candidates experience and how keeping an open mind with tenacity leads to opportunity.  

His story begins with a job loss as a sales manager, and for nine months he diligently searched for employment and decided to settle on a job with one of his former competitors, which consisted of a one-man sales department.

He took the job simply because it was an easy fit, and his family needed the income.

He continued networking with others and while employed, ended up turning down three positions – one was with the company that laid him off. He felt the offers would be just “jobs” instead of a career position and his goal was to work for a large organization with good benefits, stability and opportunity for advancement.

One Sunday as he was perusing through the jobs section of the paper, he spotted a blind advertisement for a customer service position with no indication of the company name to research. The only instructions were to reply with a resume via email, which he did immediately.  The position caught his attention because the qualifications listed were all the skills sets he possessed, however there was concern the pay would be substantially less than what he was accustomed to making.

The unexpected happened, and two weeks later after his initial application, he was interviewed over the phone.  During the interview, the employer was revealed and afterward he diligently researched for more information, only to realize this had been a company that he had called on in during his previous position and could never make it past the lobby. Through networking he discovered one of his former employees was working there.

One week later, he was invited for an interview that led to meeting with a team of 10 senior executives. Within one month starting with the ad in the paper, he landed his new career position with everything he had been looking for.

He found out later he was up against 250 other applicants. His compensation was $10,000-plus more than anticipated and he is thoroughly enjoying his new position. His parting advice is you can’t afford to judge where opportunities will surface.  Always stay alert and never give up on landing your perfect job.

Kimberly Thompson is a national board-certified counselor. Send questions to careerrescue@yahoo.com or Houston Chronicle, P.O. Box 4260, Suite 323, Houston, TX 77210. Visit her blog at www.blogs.chron.com/careerrescue.

Source:  Houston Chronicle