There was a story recently a Saudi dentist who burned his certificate in front of the Ministry of Labor out of frustration because he couldn’t get a government job. While the stunt was probably just for show because university certificates can be replaced (usually), the question to ask is, how was burning the certificate going to help him get a job? By advertising his plight or making him famous? The good news is he did capture the attention of many people. The bad news is, the Ministry of Labor announced he wasn’t getting a job because of his poor marks...something that’s now out there for everybody to know.
Compare that with the story of Nina Mufleh; a woman who repeatedly applied for Airbnb through conventional channels with no luck. Then she created a brilliant resume that mirrored the website, and not only showed the details she had on her Linkedin profile but also showcased her knowledge on the travel industry. That way she did get the attention of Airbnb’s CEO, but unfortunately, she didn’t get the job. However, her story opened up several opportunities for her and she eventually got hired by Upwork.
Those two stories show how people can react to similar circumstances in totally different ways. While one person took their job-hunting-induced frustration as a challenge and rose above it, another was morally crushed by it. There’s a reason why, “It’s not what happens to you but how you react to what happens to you,” is a cliche; because it’s true.
So if you find yourself job hunting and on the verge of pulling a stunt like burning your certificate, stop and think of other better ways to market yourself;
– You could get an unpaid internship to gain more experience and work your way from the bottom. (Unfortunately, a lot of people in our societies look down at low-level jobs because they think those are way beneath them. The system is partly at fault because unlike American culture, our children are not encouraged to take on part-time jobs when they’re still in high school and they miss out on building people skills but that’s a discussion for another day.)
– You could build soft skills by getting a different type of job
– You could foster your relationships by adding value to the lives of others
– You could make your resume stand out by starting your own website
If you do the last suggestion, don’t forget to use the promocode; AHSCRIBE on hostgator.com for a discount.
Did you ever feel the frustration that usually accompanies job hunting? How did you deal with that? Leave your comments below or tweet me @ahechoes.
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