Managing a Transition

When most of us find ourselves in transition we’re like the man in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Here’s the allegory in a nutshell: Imagine a group of people living in a cave lit only by a small fire. Now imagine one of them getting dragged out of that cave and brought out into the sunlight. The person getting dragged out would no doubt curse the person pulling him out, and once on the surface would be blinded by his first painful exposure to the bright sun.

As job seekers, it is easy to get a bit full of ourselves. Not so much in an arrogant way. We just get caught up.

For good reason, our lives transform into a very self-directed effort. And the timing is right. No one is going to blame you. Because they know that this focus is part of the process of finding work.

But it also can be too much. It can cause you to become selfish, obsessive and often lose perspective.

So here's a simple idea to help break you out of this cycle in job search.

If you are currently looking for work or have been in transition before, I know a few things about you. You are part of a vital crowd that has been through something difficult to get somewhere important and necessary. And you are better for having been through it.

You see this process of job search changes you for the better. It pushes you to learn at a time in life when you may not actually want to do so. But you have to learn. Because you have been thrust into a situation that demands it.

I get mass emails from my professional network all the time. Most of them are lengthy updates on where somebody is on their job search. I don’t mind getting them and I try to help when I can, but unfortunately I rarely ever feel compelled to forward those messages on to the rest of my own personal network. If I did feel compelled to do so the original sender might benefit from the exponential exposure to thousands of other executives in my network, not to mention the many thousands more from the networks of the other recipients.

At most social networking events I attend, I am struck by the growing numbers of those that are in transition that are showing up looking to meet new people that will hopefully lead them to their next job. As I tell people, you will not find your next job at a networking event. But with the right attitude, you may be able to find people who will help you along your journey. With the wrong attitude, you will go home frustrated and confused.

Grant Johnson’s Marketing For Results is a blog on best practices and lessons learned, driving growth at several successful tech companies - from venture-backed enterprises, e.g. FrontBridge (acquired by Microsoft) to well established public companies, e.g. FileNet (acquired by IBM).

Tim Tyrell-Smith (an Executive Network member since 2007) is the Founder of Spin Strategy™ - Tools for Intelligent Job Search (www.spinstrategy.com).  Tim started writing the blog and built a website to support job seekers after completing his own job search in 2007.

I enjoy listening to Josh Groban and one of the songs he sings is entitled “Don’t Give Up.” To me, this song is uplifting. In this economic climate it would seem like a good mantra to chant and, in fact, I sing this song in my head when the pressures of the world mount. And for many of us, those pressures can come from being in transition, the uncertainty of whether your current job or career will be eliminated or downgraded, or the uncertainty of the new contract or consulting assignment that you were expecting.