5 Signs You Might Be A Delusional Executive Job Seeker
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Get ready.

I'm going to vent.

Some of you may even remove me as a LinkedIn connection.

I'm ok with that.

I'm annoyed at the delusional expectations of some executive job seekers and the infectious negativity they spread by not accepting job-seeking life for what it is.

The executive job search is a sales process. It's not an entitlement program.

I get it. It's hard.

And you think it shouldn't be this hard after you have worked so hard.

However, it is hard....

But having a completely insane, not-based-in-reality perception of how the job search should be is not helping some of you.

This perception is making a hard process even harder for you.

Your application and interviews are being adversely affected.

You know what I mean, right?

So it's time to shine the interrogative bright light on these harmful perspectives and show them as the unrealistic expectations they really are so you can finally
get rid of them and make progress.

You ready? Buckle in for the tough love train ride…

Here goes:

I have taken the delusional expectations held by some job seekers and applied them to other life scenarios to give a different context to how ludicrous some of these expectations are.

Here are 5 signs you are delusional about the job search process, hurting your prospects and bringing down fellow job seekers with you when you complain about these points.

(1) You are disheartened and inflamed by recruiters with whom you interviewed, or simply submitted a resume, that don’t give you feedback on your performance or your resume...

REALITY CHECK: Do you call back telemarketers and give them pointers on how to better sell to you next time? I didn't think so.

(2) You expect hiring managers to call you back every time they say they will, even after an initial interview or two.

REALITY CHECK: Hmmm...Have you called back every date you ever had to say, "I had a great time last night, but I don't see much in us long term, so I won't be contacting you anymore. Thanks." Really? Every time? Or did you ever not call and hope they got the hint it was over. Yeah, I thought so.

(3) You are baffled by why HR can't see how your background is amazing and take the time to figure out what job in their company would be the best use of your skills.

REALITY CHECK: If your subordinate, let’s call him subordinate A, came into your office and said, “I have these great skills, but I am not sure what I want. Can you tell me what jobs I would be great for?” would you be eager to spend the time to figure it out for them? Or would you gravitate towards the subordinate, let’s say subordinate B, who says, “I am an awesome accountant, and I see our books are behind…would you like me to take care of that for you?”

B is looking fabulous, eh?

(4) You are enraged when you think hiring managers are wrongly using age as a factor in not hiring you, yet, you begin your resume and LinkedIn profile with “Over 30 years of experience…”

REALITY CHECK: You cannot want an executive job with cushy perks based on seniority without the achievements to back it up, and then call it ageism when the hiring manager hires someone else who promoted their merits while downplaying the entitlement that comes with seniority better than you.

(5) You long for the general, free information to work perfectly for you, and get flustered when it gets overwhelming and you're unsure which to apply to you.

REALITY CHECK: I'm going to go to an extreme here: Let's assume you have a lump in your neck. Do you go on Web MD, try to diagnose it yourself, assume it's not that serious and then take a scalpel that you bought at a medical supply place and attempt to remove it yourself? You don't need a professional to look at it right, Web MD's got you covered...right?

Sounds ridiculous?

Well, I see people do this type of ridiculousness with their six-figure career that is the foundation of their family's livelihood.

All. The. Time.

They expect to be hand-held.

After a career built on merit, they secretly want their next better move to be based on seniority…but then get mad when they think people are using age to not hire them.

They don’t realize they are looking for others to take responsibility for their career, because it is now hard.

They want detailed, custom, specific feedback for free.

Insane in the membrane.

The job search process sometimes favors the job seeker and
sometimes it favors the employer.

Econ 101, right?

Supply and demand?

The job search is not an entitlement program where you are entitled to a response, feedback, above-market offer and a cushy job each and every time you want it and just because you put 20+ years in…

…it does not work that way.

It's tough.

No one is rolling out the red carpet for you to saunter your resume down to apply.

It's a 'survival-of-the-fittest skills, network and accomplishments' landscape.

The executive job search is simply a business situation that needs to be assessed and have a plan developed…like successful execs, like yourself, have done over and over…