Essentially, if you have not ordered your meal even though you are hungry, then someone else will be eating your lunch, right? Let’s consider how this analogy applies to the business of finding your next job.
Here are the most common reasons executives contact the Barrett Group:
- No growth potential in the current job
- Decreasingly likelihood of promotion
- No job security or already unemployed
- Employer management changing
- At my age a job change is necessary
- Position not consistent with career objectives
These all sound like fairly compelling reasons to get started quickly on finding that ideal job (something our clients typically do in three to six months if they follow our guidance).
Yet many of the prospects we talk to each day have some reason to not immediately begin their career change program—although they evidently are dying to make a change.
Any day now I can imagine we will start to hear about recent stock market declines due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the latest cause for delay. And if you, for example, come up with this excuse not to pursue a career change when you know you are dissatisfied at work, then, guess what, you will not be alone. Others will have thought of this excuse as well. They will postpone their plans to seek that ideal job. And if you do submit to this urge to delay, you will be metaphorically inviting someone else to eat your lunch—to take that ideal job instead of you.
Think about it in simple terms. Let’s say you want to go for a walk along a nice river, but the walk is often crowded in nice weather and therefore less enjoyable. When is the best time to walk there? Yes—when it is raining.
The job market is the same, especially the access that The Barrett Group can provide.
There are always career opportunities in the unpublished market—where 75% of our clients find their next opportunity. You may need a guide to discover these hidden gems, but first and foremost, you need to actually put your feet on the path and not hover on the sidelines grumbling about one excuse or another for not moving forward.
To be sure, some of this tendency to delay is inherent in personality. The Barrett Group tends to attract more self-confident executives who know their worth and want to move ahead quickly. They are probably being driven by the dominance component in the very deeply rooted limbic instruction set (the “D” in your DISC profile). Others are motivated by a need for adventure or gratification, while still others are held back by their need for security. Evolution equipped us with these urges to help us survive, however, we also developed a set of frontal lobes to help us think beyond these gut reactions—to be rational.
If you find yourself delaying a job change while being dissatisfied at work (like 46% of Americans), then ask yourself why.
Why are you waiting? Are you simply making excuses and therefore missing opportunities?
Here’s what one recent client had to say about our services:
“Well, I think they [the Barrett Group] pretty much perfected the process. I don’t think they can really get it any better. That is my perspective, for how things worked out for me. I think that they have a tested, valid process that works and gets results. And I think I’m kind of evidence of that.”
Lee Price
And he should know. After two successful careers Lee simply wasn’t ready to retire, so he hired us, followed our advice and had three qualified offers in twelve weeks.
So, what about you? Are you hungry for change? Do you have an appetite for advancement? Are you salivating for a new challenge? Well, don’t let someone else eat your lunch. Reach out today and we’ll help you find your place at the head of the queue.
Peter Irish
CEO
The Barrett Group
