November 10, 2013

11 Real Life Job Search Nightmares

Raise your hand if you think that searching for a job is a scary endeavor. A job search can be one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking things you ever have to do. But it’s one of those things we will all have to go through in life – even if we encounter job search nightmares.

When you’re unemployed, searching for a job actually becomes a full time task. It can totally consume you to the point that you spend all of your time focused on finding work.

Sometimes we get so involved in the search, that we start to get a bit sloppy. Maybe we even make mistakes that cost us our current job or even the chance to get hired by a potential employer – silly mistakes that we’ll kick ourselves for later.

When you put time and effort into something, you don’t want to make any silly mistakes. Everyone feels that way, here are some examples of job search nightmares everyone wants to avoid:

  1. Your current boss catches you job searching while on the clock.
  2. Your cover letter is written to the wrong name or company, but you already mailed it.
  3. You overslept, got lost, or just plain missed your job interview.
  4. You hit reply all on an email and divulged your job hunt prematurely.
  5. You sent your resume off with a typo, even though you proofread.
  6. You don’t pick up the phone because it’s an “Unknown Number” and it was really a job recruiter.
  7. You mind goes totally blank during an interview and you just start rambling.
  8. Your Wi-Fi goes out in the middle of a Skype interview.
  9. Your save function doesn’t work and you lose your entire online application.
  10. You forgot to tell your reference you put them on their application and they get called.
  11. You drop someone’s name in an interview who you don’t actually know and get called out.

The job nightmare list can go on and on, but these things aren’t too far fetched. In fact, many of these exact things have happened to people we know!

Hopefully none of these job search nightmares will ever happened to you, but everyone makes a mistake once in awhile. If you mess up, take a deep breath and realize that mistakes happen. Most recruiters understand how stressful the job search can be.

As long as you try your hardest, stay confident, and keep applying, eventually you will find a job. If you’ve messed up, apply for a different job on the job board.

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