You take the good, you take the bad…

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have. The facts of Life….

Unfortunately, I have the theme song from 80’s television show, The Facts of Life, stuck in my head. Perhaps now you do too :)

Helping people find work can be an emotionally draining experience. A truly caring professional is along for the roller ride with the job seeker: experiencing highs and lows together. All facets of my work can have strong moments of frustration and joy. For example, yesterday I received an unsolicited email from another career coach, who is not a big fan of my blog advice. Although I did not take much stock in his words, it was still bothersome.

It was especially good timing when I received such a nice review by a reader on Amazon that evening of The Lion Cub Job Search book:

When I got my hands on this book, I was newly transplanted to New York and needed to start a job search after ten years on my last job. Realizing that the job seeking process must have changed significantly over the last ten years, I researched the internet for days, weeks, and months for effective up-to-date strategies, and became increasingly frustrated by endless advertisements and piece-meal or contradictory information from dubious sources. Sound familiar? I inhaled the Lion Cub Job Search in two hours even though I don't enjoy "how to" reading per se.

Mr. Margolin managed to pack his book with insight from both job seeker and hiring professional perspectives. The result - the book - and the job seeking plan made sense. Written practically and concisely, this book helped me put into action a step by step, logical, and thought-out job search. I was productive and motivated. My job search fell into place naturally. I have begun interviewing with a prominent company. This Lion Cub is quite happy. Kudos Mr. Margolin.

In a job search, you will have good and bad days. Sometimes a day that feels good, may lead to frustration later. Other times a day that starts out bad, turns promising. Try to manage the highs and lows and take the good with the bad. You have to believe that it will all work out in the end.

Don't forget to enjoy your pastimes

If you are a long time reader of my blog, you might be surprised by today's advice:

Take some time to relax and enjoy your pastimes!

The job search is stressful in a number of ways: professionally, financially and personally. It is hard not to carry that stress with you when you are going on interviews or trying to network.

Dedicate some time to relax to improve your chances for job search success. When you feel more relaxed, you will appear more confident and improve your chances for a positive outcome when interviewing or networking.

When I want to relax, I usually blog about the job search process (shocking, I'm sure!). But when I really need a break, I love to talk about my favorite sport: Mixed Martial Arts.

Yesterday (January 5), I was honored to have been a special guest on The Sports Rabbi Radio Show as "Uncle Lion Cub" Lavie on Israel Sports Radio. My 15 minute interview starts at about the 47:00 minute mark of the show. I even got to plug the book and the blog at the end :)The Sport's Rabbi archive is available on the main page.