There used to be a nice little coffee company at some of the London train stations (AMT?) and one of the unusual things they did was limit coffee choices to black or white. I loved the simplicity of it. Maybe because I never order a skinny decaf soy latte (I’m a woman of substance). When we are bombarded with so many options, what do we do? To avoid overwhelm, we apply our own filters to focus down and save time and energy. Mine’s a flat white please!
Filters are powerful mind tools. Do you ever play the colours game? Go on - indulge me! How many blue things can you see around you right now? Me - 6! How many yellow things? Me - 5! It’s likely that you were only aware of one bright colour before, but your brain loves a filter and responds well to the challenge.
In terms of job search, too many options or being open to anything can cause overwhelm. You take up a scattergun approach looking everywhere with a huge variety of searches set up. You’re liable to miss things because your search is time-consuming, tiring and downright dispiriting. When you find something, you click through and get lost in job details and retraining options because it’s not quite right. You’re less likely to apply because you only tick half of the boxes.
You’ve effectively switched off those useful brain filters which is why you need to get clear on your career first before going into job search mode. If you are on the lookout for a type of role, your filters will influence what you look at on the Internet, what you read and who you talk to. Other people will find it easier to help you if you ask them to keep an eye out for a flexible digital marketing role’ rather than ‘something part time’. You’ve applied a filter for them.
In this instance, being ‘open-minded’ is not a virtue. Taking the time to work out your career path or at least narrow down your career options will really power up your job search.
If you’d like some help with clarity, we offer a traditional programme of coaching and e-learning over a few weeks or an accelerated one-day ‘intensive’ version. You can find out more below or book in for a chat to discuss what would work best for you. Do bring a coffee!