I am not a gun person. I do not own any guns and do not really have a desire to own one in the future. I do, on occasion, like to shoot a gun every once and a while. I am kind of a good shot too, which is fun. When it comes to handguns or a rifle I do surprisingly good. I can slow my breath, concentrate, and hit the bullseye.
But with a shotgun. I am not as great. When we have shot clay pigeons, I am inconsistent. I can get a couple of targets but have not really gotten on a roll or have been consistent. It might also be that I do not shoot a lot of guns like I mentioned. Could be out of practice.
The reason I bring this up is because a month ago I was informed that my job was being relocated to Florida. My wife and I are not looking to move as we just bought a brand-new house and we love being in Wisconsin.
When I was informed of the decision, I had two months to find a new job, and in reality; just a month because we closed on the new house at basically the halfway point of the two-month period. It immediately put panic in my mind and in my heart. Unfortunately, that is when I pulled out the shotgun approach. I haven’t been in this situation in 10 years, so just like the shotgun very out of practice.
Anything that was remotely within the realm of what I am doing now I pulled the trigger. Digital Marketing? BOOM! Paid Search? BOOM! Analyst, wait for paid search? No? Data? Okay! BOOM! It was a classic shoot first and ask questions second. I had a ton of applications out. I had resumes out to everyone that had an inbox. I got interviews but something was off once I got into the interviews. I would come out of the discussion feeling good but when I heard I wasn’t moving on I was super bummed. When my application didn’t even get me an interview, I was feeling super bummed.
Then I started realizing after the fact I was feeling this way. I looked back at the companies I was talking to and figured it out. I liked the position they were offering, but I wasn’t really looking into the company I was trying to work for.
It wasn’t until today I realized that for almost a month I was looking for a job, not the job. The panic of not being able to find something and wanting to make sure I had something lined up when I was done with my current job lead to a shotgun approach when I needed to go about this with a rifle.
I needed to invest my time in the companies that are closer to my core values instead of just any company that is offering a job. A job won’t mean anything if I’m not invested in the values and culture of the company. If I am invested in the company and know it is a place I could really see myself working for than when I get to the interview I can be in a better head space.
There have been two places that when learning about the company I have wanted to work more than anywhere else on the long list of places I’ve applied to. Their values match mine and their goals as an organization are in line with what I want to do next in my career. It makes me excited and nervous to hear the news if I’m moving on or not.
When you are hunting with a rifle you need to be patient. You need to make sure you have the right shot lined up. That is the approach I’ve started to take, I don’t need to grab a shot gun and go after everything that is coming my way, I can be patient make sure the right one comes around.
There is a lot to be said about the saying, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” But sometimes you need to be playing the right sport before you can start taking shots.