Just the Job!

Preface – the lonely lobby of the job hotel

I’M LOSING AN ARGUMENT WITH BILL, one of my clients. He’s been looking for a job for five months and, like so many at this stage, announces that he is ‘lowering his sights’ in terms of salary and status. He plays his trump card: ‘Listen, John – there are only so many jobs out there. The best job search in the world can’t change that fact. Let’s be realistic …’

I’m tempted to jump on that last word, because the word realistic is too often a second-hand picture of reality. People have been telling me ‘this is a really bad year to be looking for a new job’ every year for two decades. But I’ll take Bill’s main point on the chin. If there aren’t enough jobs to go around, what’s the point of jazzing up your ...