Shorter than usual as we have a short holiday week here in the US. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Multiple job seekers receive the dreaded “we’re pushing this role to 2024” message this time of year. It’s just that time of year. Between busy holiday schedules, questionable budgets, and changing market conditions, many companies feel it safer to delay hiring for a few months. Other companies are laying off again, many for a second or third time.
As a job seeker or a contractor, it is like pushing rope to drive things forward. We don’t own the timeline, the budget, or the scope of work, so you have to focus on what you can control—putting plenty of new work into the top of the funnel, doing your best, taking care of yourself mentally, and looking at the long term.
The other perspective is that pushing this boulder up the hill has gotten much more challenging. The exhaustion and weariness of being ghosted, rejected, and spending time on fruitless searches wears on you. The time spent in conversations with companies who aren’t ready to commit to a contract drags at the time you could be spending elsewhere. But we must keep pushing because it’s what we can do.
Pushing Mistake
As we headed out for the family Thanksgiving road trip, I kept pushing for more details on when we were leaving, who we would see, and when we’d be coming home. I learned long ago that these sorts of trips are more an exercise in flexibility than planning and execution. So, a few quick tips on staying flexible:
- Remember the goal – quality time with family.
- Remember the non-goals – equal time with each family.
- Set some high-level objectives – quality experiences at each stop and reasonable amounts of driving.
- Let the rest sort itself out – there will be inefficiencies (Mcdonald’s breakfast, extra grocery store trips, etc.)
- Lean back and enjoy – enjoy the season.
Fun
