Times are tough, people continue to be laid off and the unemployment number keep rising. As a result, the job that you once thought was too junior, too low-paying, too far away from your house, involved too much travel, didn’t offer enough upward mobility, didn’t have any direct reports and didn’t really interest you, is now a job that you have no real chance of getting.
One thousand other people had already come to the same conclusion you had about this job but it didn’t stop them from applying for the job because they’re out of work too and can’t find anything more suitable.
Unfortunately, the one thousand other people who once felt the same way about this job already came to the same conclusion before you did and have already applied for this job.
Chances are that at least some of them have more experience and lower standards than you and are therefore more desperate to get the job than you are, too.
After the company hires someone else for this job, you will genuinely be upset that you didn’t get this junior, low-paying, far away, travel-heavy, no-future, non-management, boring job and can’t figure out why you missed out on a job that you didn’t really want anyways and why you’re disappointed about it.
As the economy gets worse, a job that you wouldn’t have even thought about considering a few months ago, now seems attractive. Funny how things like perspective can change so quickly. In this case though, it’s really not something you probably want to laugh at.
The goal for many people this year is simply to remain employed and ride things out until the economy picks up. The goal for those out of work is increasingly just to get back into the workforce somehow, somewhere and in many cases this could mean taking a less than desirable job that they may not have considered months earlier.
As a result, many companies might find themselves hiring people who may only be planning to hang their hat with the company until something better comes along.
The good news is that if you lose your job and you’re a good performer, your company’s competitors – if they’re smart – should be on the lookout for solid performers like you who just got laid off, to scoop up for themselves. Of course, they need to know that you’re a good performer to want to hire you.
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