“The unthankful heart
discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as
the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly
blessings!”
– Henry Ward Beecher, American Congregationalist clergyman
The process of finding a new job can be grueling. You network, you scour the web, you apply for
jobs, you may even cold call (if you are actually serious about finding a job,
that is). Then, there are the phone
screens, the in-person interviews, the 2nd round of interviews, the
waiting. It can be tough, I understand
that! I see it all the time. But what do you do when it’s all said and
done and you get the call or standard email saying
“Thank you for interviewing, but we’ve decided to pursue other
applicants at this time.”?
In the last 24 hours, I’ve had to notify two individuals
that they were not getting hired for two different, but highly sought after
positions. Their responses, each so
different from the other, gave me pause to…
THINK ABOUT THANKS.
The first gal got the call telling her we had opted to hire
another candidate. Her response was just
downright rude! After the call, she sent
an email to several people on the team using ALL CAPS on certain words to prove
her point about how UPSET she was with us, how our PROCESS was SO AWFUL, etc...even
though just minutes prior I had told her we would absolutely consider her should something else open up. Well,
obviously once I got that response, she’s in my “DO NOT CONSIDER” pile from now
until eternity…or until I get distracted from thinking about thanks and start thinking about a softer heart or forgiveness perhaps.
The second guy who had received the news via a voicemail,
called me back and said “Thanks so much for the call. I really appreciate all your efforts
throughout the process. If anything ever
changes, please let me know. Thanks again!”. I was floored! And you can believe me, the very next chance
I get, I’m going to hire this guy! Most
candidates don’t even respond to emails or voicemails telling them they didn’t
get the job. And I suppose that’s
ok. But if you really want to stand out
in the job market, you should. Just pick
up the phone, call the people you interviewed with, and tell them thank
you. It goes a long way.
I’ve heard it said that there is an art to saying thank you,
and I have to agree. However the “art”
of it is “doing” it. Whatever the
situation (if you got the offer or didn’t, whether you got the raise or the promotion
or if you didn’t), a thankful heart AND MORE IMPORTANTLY a thankful attitude
that others can see, will work wonders.
Until next time, keep your chin up and be thankful for
something today. It’ll get you where you want to be a whole lot faster than if
you’re not.
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