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Avoid The Self Exclusion Trap If You Want To Land Your Next Job
You have decided the time is right to make the next step in your career. That’s a positive decision.
Now you decide to get into the job search phase.
At this stage you might notice that you become just a little more anxious.
This is understandable to some extent.
After all you may well get rejected.
On the other hand you don’t want to make it even easier for the hiring organisation.
You do this by falling into what I’ll refer to as the self exclusion trap.
What do I mean?
You look at a job description and person specification.
The bulk of the job is well within your capability.
Yet there’s one or two things that you can’t meet completely.
These one or two things get in the way of you being objective about your suitability for the role.
Before you know it you have decided that perhaps you are not right for the role after all.
The trouble with this approach
- It’s really easy to miss out on opportunities that are well within your capability.
- Equally, you miss out on opportunities to challenge yourself, grow and develop.
- You never get better by just doing what’s comfortable, easy and familiar.
Overcoming the self exclusion trap
The good news is that there is plenty that you can do to overcome the self exclusion trap.
First thing is it really understand what’s critical to success in the role. Some elements are key and some elements aren’t. Management experience may be critical if you are going to be managing a team. Less so if not.
Secondly understand what you really want from your next role. Only you know what really matters to you. Armed with this insight you can make a more objective decision around what opportunities to pursue and those to pass on.
Thirdly recognise that if you can tick every box 100% then it’s probably the wrong role for you anyway. Every job needs an element of things you can do right away and things that you can learn.
The bottom line
It’s challenging enough to take the next step in your career. Avoid making it even tougher by imposing unnecessary barriers.
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.