Free Never Apply for a Job Again!: Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest by Darrell Gurney, Ivan Misner

some point someone said, “You know, given who you are and what you’re capable of (outside of your titles and background), you’d probably be good for this role I heard about.” It was finding a reason other than her need for a job that led her to meet more people, got her on the radar of folks with connections, and opened up this opportunity for her.
    All of these clients demonstrated that, when you remove the desperation and single-eyed focus of “I need a job!” from your interactions and explorations, doors open and you elicit assistance and opportunities that would not have come otherwise.
    In the next section, we will explore the creation of research projects for your own stealth campaign, similarly based in what you’re truly passionate about. By authentically researching your interests rather than needy job hunting, you begin to attract rather than repel the relationships and situations that truly interest you.

CareerGuy Tip: Being interested attracts. Being needy repels.
    But, before moving on to our next principle, first a word from our sponsor: Your Higher Calling! In order to adequately cover Principle #3, I will have to climb back onto the soapbox for a bit.

    Your Higher Calling
    The fear and uncertainty of the unknown too often shapes the mood of a career transition, which has folks lose out on the blessing of the shift. I believe transitions occur for a reason beyond what we can understand in the moment, yet are definitely directed and guided. I once heard a minister say, “Never waste the opportunity of a good crisis!” What he went on to explain was that, what we often perceive initially as a negative event actually has the seeds within it of a greater overall direction for our lives.

CareerGuy Tip: Never waste the opportunity of a good crisis.
    Face it: None of us like change. Left to our own devices, the majority of us would just keep doing what we’re doing— regardless of our lack of enthusiasm, joy, challenge, or even fair compensation for it. I believe a career transition comes as a wake-up call for us to redirect our efforts in ways that fit who we have become since our last transition.
    Throughout time, our skills, interests, and values evolve. Often, people don’t recognize or address their evolution. They merely make do with things as they are, suck it up, and sell out on themselves. That’s why Thoreau said most people live “lives of quiet desperation.”
    As uncertain as the unknown may be, a transition is an opportunity to reassess, recalibrate, and reengage in a work-life worth living. In the throes of the “busy-ness” of your last role, you didn’t have time to adequately recognize or inventory your evolved skills, interests, or values. Therefore, a transition can be a wonderful opportunity to take stock, just like any business does on a regular basis. Conducting an insightful “career inventory” can net you many surprises to be capitalized upon in an effective stealth campaign.

CareerGuy Tip: A career transition is simply an opportunity to take stock of yourself, your assets, your interests, and your direction.
    Many folks are well aware that they are spent in their current job, but live under the maxim that “the devil you know is better than the one you don’t.” So they stay in a dead-end job. I think that is a sad way to rationalize the wholesale forfeiture of self-expression in one’s work, where you spend one-third to half of your waking hours!
    The biggest fear in a career transition is simply the unknown of what’s out there…but I personally believe we live in an upwardly spiraling universe where “the best is yet to come” is more than just a verse from a Sinatra tune. It takes stepping forward with faith—even in the face of the unknown—to find that greater expression of yourself.
    If you saw the third Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade , you remember that Indy’s second challenge was to cross a gorge to get to the Holy Grail. With no bridge