Having A Sense Of Urgency In Job Search

One of my favorite shows as a kid in the mid 70′s was called ”Adam-12″.  According to tv.com “Adam-12 was the first TV series to more realistically portray the joys & frustrations of being a police officer in the late 1960′s-early 1970′s.” So I guess this was our version of COPS without the tattoos, language, blurred nudity and bloody elbows.  What a shame.

The show featured two main characters “Malloy and Reed”, both chiseled, polite and disciplined (ala Dragnet).  If you missed the show, here are some vital details – again from tv.com: “Adam-12 was the radio call sign of the patrol unit that Malloy & Reed worked. In Los Angeles, the first digit (1), represented the division worked. “Adam” is the LAPD designation for a 2-person patrol unit; “12″ was the beat area assigned.”

For me though, I seem to remember the officers always being in “hot pursuit” – a term I never understood technically as a pre-teen.  But I knew one thing.  Hot pursuit meant a loud screeching u-turn along with a chance to flip on the lights and siren.  An urgent need to get headed in a new direction.

So, how would you describe your sense of urgency in job search?  Are the lights on?

In past posts, I’ve mentioned friends who (with or without a safety net) seem to be very comfortable relaxing for a few weeks, catching up on ESPN, hanging out with friends or just slumbering on the family hammock.  I’ve also written about the unique and wonderful opportunity that a job search can provide to find yourself, pursue a passion or re-connect with friends and family that years of work may have neglected.

However, to be clear, job search should not be confused with a surprise vacation.  It is serious business that will likely take longer than you expect.  To succeed, you must have a solid strategy, a proactive plan for networking and, importantly, a strong sense of urgency.

So how do you balance your job of finding work with the opportunity to enjoy it?

Well, the key is to delay gratification.  This means that until you build a solid strategy, create personal marketing tools and implement a first stage effort there should be no playing the Wii or any hammock time.  As tempting as it will be to “nurture your soul” early in your job search, delay that need for four weeks – the time that it will take to get your plan in market.

As soon as it becomes clear that you are back in the job market, picture yourself behind the wheel of that police cruiser, the sun glinting off your badge.  Once the call comes over the radio, you grab the steering wheel and crank it while slamming your foot down on the gas pedal.  If everything goes right, your car (and your job search) swings around without too much lost rubber and shoots ahead down the road.  Why are the lights and siren important?  Well in job search, as in a hot pursuit, you need everyone to know that you are doing something important.  Instead of alerting cars and pedestrians to be careful as you approach, you are telling everyone to be on the lookout as you kick off your job search.

So what happens if Malloy and Reed get an important call and fail to act with a sense of urgency?  Well, first they won’t get to their destination very quickly.  That’s obvious.  What may be less obvious is all the impediments that will further block their progress as a result.  They might get stuck in traffic, get trapped in a construction zone or become distracted at the site of a minor accident.

If you don’t hit the gas pedal and flip on the siren right away, there will be temptations.  Temptations to spend your early days of job search licking your wounds or studying the inside of your eyelids.

So, get the right start on your job search with a proactive plan and an early implementation.   Without early momentum, you will find other things to do.  Things that will result in your being reactive and on the wrong end of an unsuccessful effort.

Not where you want to be.  Trust me.

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