Curiosity Did Not Kill the Job Searcher
There is a proverb that goes back to the 1600’s that says “Curiosity Killed the Cat.” And, while my intent is not to anger or alarm any pet lovers, its meaning is that a person who gets too nosy into the affairs of others, risks being prone to having a reaction they would prefer not receiving. However, when it comes to the world, I am a part of, assisting those in their job search find their next opportunity, curiosity is a trait that often will benefit them. Now certainly, I do not mean one should go prying into the private information of companies for which they want to work, or do things that are illegal, but there are ways to learn of possible opportunities of organizations that may need one’s talents.
Some of those ways are quite obvious. Job postings for a company on either their company business page, or on job sites as LinkedIn or Indeed is certainly a way. Keeping abreast of a company and their announced direction through industry wide publications is another way. However, there are additional ways of learning of potential opportunities that may require a bit more research on behalf of the job searcher.
Job searchers may be a part of professional organizations where other members of the organization share in the same job function or discipline of which they are a part. However, those other members of the organization may be in different industries than the job searcher. As such, they may learn of opportunities in another industry which may not be available in the industry in which they work.
A job search professional, (whether they are in search, or actively working), wants to have part of their life a robust network of professionals. There should be conversations with those professionals to learn of what is happening in each other’s world of work. Perhaps, one’s networking partner knows that their company is searching for someone with the job searcher’s skills and is willing to recommend them for a role. However, the job searcher may not learn of such a role, if they first don’t take the time to have individuals in their professional network, and secondly, keep that network active as much as possible.
An often-overlooked source of learning about possible opportunities are one’s family members, neighbors and friends. Do you truly know what the people that you come in contact with really do in terms of the work they perform? When you ask them about how their work is going, are you just asking to be sociable, or are you truly inquisitive about learning more about what that individual truly does do? In short, ask yourself, am I TRULY A GOOD LISTENER? The good listener, looks when engaged in conversation to talk about 1/3 of the time, and listen and observe 2/3 of the time to what is going on around them. It opens them up to clues to what may be happening in particular companies, industries and work-related trends.
What are the skills that you hear that it appears are being sought in the job market? Do you have them? What does it take to truly obtain them? Are they ones one can learn with a little time an effort, or does one truly need to invest time in a major degree program? Again, if one needs to put forth some effort, but not necessarily sacrifice time that they need to devote to other responsibilities, that curiosity may put them in a better position if indeed they need to seek out a new line of work due to a company workforce reduction or retooling.
So, again, while being curious to the degree of nosiness, particularly when it comes to the personal life of another, is not a trait you want to have, in the world of career development and work, it is a worthwhile trait to have. It actually may help to be a deterrent to one becoming “obsolete” in the workforce long before the time they choose to step aside.
