While at one end, there is an endless list of things you can control in your job search process, there are also many things beyond control during job hunting. Looking for a new job is quite an overwhelming experience that can make you feel excited, anxious, frustrated and downright bummed, all at the same time.
These intense emotions can play havoc with your temperaments and mood swings to
experience feelings of disappointments on days when you didn’t nail the interview. However, these can be managed with understanding, support, and care from friends and family.
Now looking beyond the obvious, there are several other aspects to a job search process which no one tells you about. As good as you might be with your researching skills, digging into the database of best employers, best global brands to work with, finding hidden job opportunities through networking channels and many more, there is a lot that goes beyond the knowing.
Some of the common few aspects beyond control in the job search process are listed below:
- Job Market Trends
With volatility experienced in markets across the globe, it’s extremely difficult to predict the job market trends and in-demand job roles for the year ahead. If trends are positive for your industry of choice there could be many job opportunities flooding the market, however contrary if the market is dull there could be a dearth of vacancies and excess of talent availability for a particular job role.
- Industry Growth and Talent Demand
Industries experience lull owing to digital disruption or perhaps a cost-cutting exercise necessitating the need for laying off the talented workforce. Also, implementation of automation technologies is responsible for redundancy of certain career profiles and job roles.
Grappling with the momentum of change, many reputed majors are focusing on talent retention efforts and employee engagement strategies to retain key talent within their company.
- Increasing Competition
In a knowledge-driven economy growing insurmountably by harnessing potentials of the world wide web, today professionals, students, and organizations alike enjoy the privilege of increased access to information right at their fingertips. Amidst the chaos and disruption, ambiguity and vagueness of information presented on social platforms and media channels, every individual can now leverage on the power of making careful choices that influence their decision-making process.
Navigating the maze of complex career choices and discovering new-age in-demand career opportunities is as much as an art and a science, as a relentless pursuit of excellence.
- You can’t control judgments and subconscious bias
Interviewers are humans after all, and you should understand that they can err as well. While their mistakes most often do not appear on the surface. You need to give them the extra mile advantage of holding respectable positions with reputed employer brands, deeply ingrained by thoughts, values and a subconscious self-influencing and directing their decisions.
This is quite a debatable topic with experts holding contra-views on the subject if candidates should be chosen based on meritorious conduct and passion, or on the power of social networking. The situation in reality, however, contradicts idealistic views. Employers do hold preconceived notions about certain gender-specific roles during the recruitment process, thus tossing out other potential talented applications away.
- You Can’t Control the Final Decision
With brimming competition and almost every applicant vying for the top spot, it is equally challenging for hiring managers to pick and choose the right talent to meet the organizational cultural fit. As a job seeker, it is important to leave an indelible impression on the minds of the interviewer and nail the interview.
Sometimes, you are eagerly waiting to hear back from the employer after giving your best shot at the interview and to receive an offer mail. But the wait seems endless, and you are left wondering what made your candidature slip through the cracks and be seconded. It could be anything – maybe judgments of the interviewer, complex decision making, gut instincts, lack of confidence exuded by you during the brief interview duration or just the missing luck quotient.
The final outcome and decision of the employer/interviewer are beyond your control but you can definitely practice how you react and respond to the same. It is important to be prepared to deal with rejections and failures. Remember, failures are a training ground that prepares you early on for a long-term enduring career journey.
Read: Questions to Ask the Interviewer During Personal Interview