The Critical Need for Accountability

For most of us, a job search is hard work. Hours of dedicated activity. Research. Stepping outside our comfort zone. Reaching out. Connecting. Following-up. Staying on task. Yet, many, probably most, people in a search drift off path! They get busy. Yard work. House work. Spending extra time with family. A few trips that were never possible before. And suddenly you discover you haven’t done anything of significance in days, or weeks. I’ve watched people “forget” to work on their search for months!

Get help! Seek an accountability partner. Maybe even a whole TEAM! – your ?AAA Team:? Attitude, Action and Accountability

• To encourage you
• To prod you forward; to make suggestions; to be your advisory counsel
• To help you prioritize your time and activities
• To lovingly chastise you when you’re not on track
• NOT to ask questions like “so why haven’t you found a job yet?”
• People who will let you ask questions when you don’t know what to ask
• People who won’t let you stay in “stuck”
• People who will respond when you’re in a crisis (however YOU define crisis)

ASK people if they’re willing to do this for you. Give them an easy out. Learn who your real friends are. Real friends will tell you what you need to hear, even when you don’t want to hear it. (Proverbs: “wounds of a friend”) If you don?t have a group who will help you with this, find a nearby career ministry and ask for help. It?s even OK to be choosy!

Per Peter Bourke, your spouse can be ?your secret weapon.? If the world is down on you, but your spouse is supportive, you have an advantage. But, there?s a big warning that goes with this. Your spouse can also sabotage your search. If your spouse is NOT your biggest supporter, set some limits and make sure you have others to help you with the process.

Consider a mentor or a personal career coach [not necessarily paid for]. Whatever you do, don’t get stuck. If your search is not moving forward, and you don’t know what to do, change your direction to get some help to move forward. Your job may not be your life, but for most, if you don’t have a job, life tends to suffer, usually a lot!

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”
-Japanese Proverb

Last updated: 12/4/2014

You can find all my Job-Search related articles here. Please remember, a job search is normally an ordered set of steps. If you try to skip steps, it usually doesn?t work out well.