Waiting for a rabbit

Waiting for a rabbit

Once, there was a farmer in the Song State. While toiling the fields one day, he saw a rabbit run past him, break its neck on a tree, and die. The farmer threw down his tools, grabbed the dead rabbit, and went home to make a stew out of it. That evening he thought to himself, “life would be much easier if I just waited under that tree for a rabbit to run and crash against it.”

The next day the farmer sat under the tree patiently waiting. Day after day, he neglected his work and sat under that same tree, waiting for a rabbit to come by. In no time, the planting season was over and the farmer looked upon his desolate land in agony.

What seems like an old antiquated proverb is surprisingly relevant in today’s job search. In my first month of job hunting I sent out hundreds of online applications and resumes to dozens of companies. Within a few weeks I was contacted by a company in San Diego, Illumina (ILMN) for a job. It was my first real lead for a job out of college. Though I couldn’t close the deal in the face to face (f2f) interview, I walked away thinking “getting interviews isn’t going to be that hard”So I continued to send out resumes the next few months and everyday I sat by my phone and waited…and waited…and waited. Like the farmer, instead of focusing my energy towards toiling my field I waited for that rabbit to come by again. I was sure I’d get the job the next opportunity I got.No wait, you say, online applications for jobs are completely out of your control, all you can do is wait.

Yes and no.

There’s only so much you can do, but boy there is a lot you can do before you can say you’ve adequately done enough. Prepping your resume, cover letters, interview questions, building your personal network, setting up informational interviews, researching company information, defining your industry focus, learning new skill sets, etc. We’ll definitely expand on this stuff in the following posts, but you get the point.

Sending out a mass of emails and job applications and sitting by the phone is like the farmer waiting by the tree. it’s foolish and if you’re currently doing that…this blog is for you.

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