Being Committed But Not Attached
It used to drive me crazy. I would talk to experienced pharmacists who would tell me about issues they were having with their job search. They would apply to places they wanted to work at and then either 1) not get invited in for an interview, or 2) not understand why they didn’t get the job even after what seemed like a good interview.
After talking to them for a bit, I could see how I could help them. A feeling of excitement and “oh—I could solve your problem!” would bubble up inside me when I knew that some simple (yet not always obvious) changes would have made the difference between getting offered a job or not.
Because of the challenges I saw experienced pharmacists having, I started to teach some underused, yet effective, strategies that can be used to either hear about jobs before they come out, or get noticed when applying for a job. I would tell the frustrated pharmacists about how I taught this in the bootcamps I offered, and that they didn’t need to worry because I could help them. In my excitement, they sometimes got offended because they felt I was “selling” what I had to offer to them. Sometimes they got turned off because they felt I wanted to make money off them.
We would hang up, and then I would see them continue to do what they had always done –making the same mistakes in their job search and missing out on jobs they deserved. Sometimes they would come back to me later when they finally realized the cost of taking time trying to figure it out themselves.
I learned from my experiences that being more committed to them than they were about turning things around with their job search was not an attractive thing. Aside from that, I think I came across a bit too “salesy.” I was confident in what I offered—I knew they couldn’t learn what I teach anywhere else. I have not seen other pharmacist recruiters willing to teach the secrets they know about how to get your foot into the door. Also very few recruiters are pharmacists themselves. Yet my passion to teach pharmacists how to improve their chances for getting a job actually got in the way of them deciding to learn from me. Although it was hard at first, I eventually let go of being attached to their success.
Now I am committed but not attached. If pharmacists recognize they want expert help in saving them time and lost job opportunities, that’s when I share how they can learn what to do differently. If they choose to figure it out themselves, I completely honor their decision.
As a result, the pharmacists who learn from me are the most committed and often write me, thanking me for shifting their job search approach and helping them get the job they wanted. Many of them are pleasantly surprised with what was taught, especially in the Hidden Job Market Bootcamp, which include strategies they can use throughout their pharmacy career to be in “the know” and hear about jobs before their competition.
You can apply my concept of “being committed but not attached” to your job search. Sometimes you may come across job opportunities that you are excited about, but the employer doesn’t seem to be interested in you because they’re not responding. It might drive you nuts because you know they could be a good match for you, if only they gave you a chance. Sometimes you have the opportunity to influence the decision and you just need to learn how to do it in an elegant way. Rather than writing it off as that it’s simply because of the tough job market that you didn’t get a shot, redirect your energy to figuring out what to do differently to get noticed.
The key is to be totally committed. If you’re half-assing it and sending out resumes to 10 different places just because you need a job, that doesn’t spell commitment. If you say you are committed, but you don’t take the time to get to really know what you’re applying for and to personalize your approach to capture the attention of a hiring manager, then you have a deeper commitment to something else. Your deeper commitment reflects hoping things will turn out, rather than putting your best foot forward and then letting things fall into place for you.
So be committed. After that, don’t be attached to where you end up, because what happens will just be perfect when you know you’ve tried your best. Even if you can’t see it now, when you look back, you will see how it was all an important part of your path. Just as some of you being “turned off” by me was an all- important part of my path to working with those I enjoy most working with.
To learn how to find out about jobs before they come out, listen to the free preview call:
“How to Tap into the Hidden Job Market to Beat Your Competition to the Interview”.
The New Year Phenomenon
My husband likes to work out at the gym. He went the other day and couldn’t believe how packed it was. The New Year’s Resolution phenomenon in full swing. Ben (my husband) said to me, “Give it another month, and the gym will be back to normal”. I guess he doesn’t have much faith in all the people there excited about their new founded habit to get their butts out the door and to the gym a month from now.
As we start the New Year, many of us take this step into a new year as a symbolic opportunity to step into doing things differently. The key is whether we can sustain that new commitment to ourselves to make a lasting difference on the way we choose to live. This applies to any intention you set for yourself, like getting yourself a new fit body, a new job, or a new habit (like never being late again).
The first step is recognizing what didn’t serve you.
It might have been bubbling up inside you…a knowing that something didn’t work for you. For example, in the past, when you searched for jobs, did you mostly search online (isn’t that what everyone does these days to find a job)? What about blasting out your resume to many places online and not hear back from the ones you really wanted to hear from? Did you use the same resume for every application?
Maybe it didn’t work that well, or maybe it worked ok, but boy was it a lot of work. You had a feeling that surely there must be a different less time consuming way.
All those people at the gym recognized the first step. But why isn’t it always lasting? How can it be different this year with your resolution?
The second step is deciding what you want to commit to. Commit to it, and then never look back.
Don’t bring any misery of regret, beating yourself up, or memory of your previous habit (or way of doing things) that didn’t serve you before along with you as you create your new habit or new mindset.
When looking for jobs, decide that you will only apply for a few jobs that you are most interested in, and put most of your efforts there. This allows you to take the time to understand the role, get to know the pharmacy or hospital you are most interested in (their vision, leadership, work environment, etc), and highlight yourself in a way that makes them want to chase you. It also gives you an advantage because knowing this in detail will help you make an impression that other “spray & pray” candidates won’t have a chance in making. Be committed to doing things differently with your job search & don’t look back.
This year, I’m taking my own medicine. In reflecting about what frustrated me about our company in 2011, this is what came to me…
What didn’t serve us: not being able to serve the pharmacists in our community the way we wanted. Many pharmacists contacting us for our help, and not enough people/resources to serve them in an effective way that solved their problems/challenges in a timely manner.
What we decide to commit to & never look back from: Pharmacist Job Connection (which was trying to be too many things to too many pharmacists) is getting a facelift.
Pharmacist Job Connection is going to be about helping pharmacists learn how to stand out in their job search to beat their competition for interviews & offers.
RPh Temp Service (our temp division specializing in Indian Health Service travel assignments) will continue to be the most requested temp agency serving Native American pharmacies (IHS/tribal).
Now here’s the exciting news…
Hospital Pharmacist Job Connection is a fresh face in our family…it will exclusively help experienced hospital pharmacists get introduced directly to hiring decision-makers and access jobs before they’re advertised.
If you are a hospital experienced pharmacist (ie, clinical coordinator, clinical pharmacy specialist, informatics pharmacist, PGY2 residency-trained, or pharmacy director/manager), click here to be kept in the loop about how to cut down on your time consuming job-seeking process.
If you are a hospital pharmacy director/hiring manager tired of sifting through hundreds of resumes & getting backed up with your workload, be the first to hear about 1) secrets on how to hire “The One”, or 2) options to hand off searching, finding, & hiring “The One” to experts.
Hospital Pharmacists ONLY – Sneak Peek at Our New Website & Get a Complimentary Resume Critique
Get an exclusive sneak peak at our brand new website & critique it! To thank you for giving us your valuable input on what you like/don’t like, we’d like to give you a complimentary 15-min resume critique. NOTE: current resume makeover packages with Chen Yen, PharmD, Pharmacist Job Market Expert start at $245, so lock in your complimentary critique now!
Who this is for: Hospital pharmacists ONLY
How this works: Fill out the form below & attach your resume. You will be directed to book a session to get your complimentary 15-min resume critique. You will also be giving your 10-min critique of our brand new website during the session.
If you want to critique our new website, but don’t want a complimentary resume critique, just write “don’t want resume critique” in the My Preferred Job Situation field below.
Lock in your spot! Book your session now!