While You Wait: Navigating the Job Market Without Losing Your Confidence

In this solo episode, Rhoda discusses something she is personally navigating, staying confident and grounded while searching for the right opportunity in a competitive market.

What You’ll Take Away
A healthier way to view rejection
How to stay focused and in motion
A reminder that your value does not change

Connect with Rhoda
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Closing Thought
You are not stuck. You are preparing.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, what's your secret? You got the kind of that leads when speechless. It could be model multitasking genius.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Yeah, you got it uh Welcome to Breakthrough Conversations with Rhoda and Company. Guess who riding solo today? Woo-hoo! Better be me. And the title of this episode is While You Wait. Navigating the Job Market Without Losing Your Confidence. Have you ever walked out of an interview feeling good about how you showed up? You were clear in your answers, you were confident in your experience, and you still didn't get the call. You still didn't progress to the next step. And instead of letting it take you down, I decided to look at it differently. Not as rejection. I see rejection as protection. But I look at it, rejection, as a part of the process. So I want to talk to you about what it looks like to stay grounded in this season of waiting while you're applying, while you're interviewing, while you're following up with thank you emails, while you're hearing no or even nothing at all. Because let's be honest, sometimes you don't even hear back. The market is competitive. It will test your confidence if you let it. So let's see, I recently went through a few opportunities. I was so excited about both of these opportunities. There was strong alignment, there were strong conversations, there were strong connections, and still they didn't move me forward, nor did they even follow up in some cases to close the loop. And yes, it caused me to pause, but I paused to reflect, I pause to learn, and I pause to reset. Because what? I know what I bring to the table, I know what value I add, I know the contributions I can make, I know the impact that I can have. And I've learned that every opportunity is not a missed opportunity. Some are simply just not aligned with where I'm meant to land. Or I often say, that's okay, that wasn't my seat. So that opportunity and me were finding ourselves to one another. Here's what I've had to remind myself of in this season because I've never really been in this space. I've never not had a job since I've been a full-grown adult. I've transitioned to other companies while I was working. But what I've learned is that you can be fully qualified and still not be selected. That doesn't mean you're lacking, it doesn't take away from your experiences, it doesn't take away from your contributions, and it doesn't take away from your achievements. It means that there are factors that we don't see, that you're not aware of. Timing, it could be internal candidates, it can be business shifts, a change in priority, it could be fit beyond your control. They're looking for something very specific that you may not bring. So instead of internalizing that rejection, because it's easy to do, because our brain wants to try to fill the gaps in and get to the why and reach a conclusion as to why we weren't selected. But instead of internalizing that rejection, I've started externalizing it. And this is an example of me doing that just by talking to you all. I ask, what can I take from this situation and what do I leave behind? So if you're in this season right now, if you're waiting, you're applying, you're hoping, I want you to stay anchored. This process is not a reflection of your value. It's a process of alignment. It also gives you the opportunity to pause. I say all the time, there's power in the pause. So while you're waiting, you're not stuck. You're refining, you're sharpening, you're getting clearer about what you want and what you don't want and what you will not accept. And guess what that is? That's broke by itself. That's progress of its own. Remember, I just said it. There's power in the pause if you leverage that pause appropriately. So if you're navigating this season, you're waiting, you're looking for your next opportunity. Here are some things you can focus on. Here are three things. Number one, stay visible, keep showing up, keep networking, keep putting your name in rooms where decisions and discussions and uh are being made. Stay ready. Every conversation is an opportunity. I'll repeat that. Every single conversation you have is an opportunity. I'm at a family function. Where you work? What you do? Who you know? Connect me with blah blah blah. Refine your story as well. Come up with your elevator speech. Know your impact. Speak to your results. This is giving you the opportunity to refine. And the third thing is to stay grounded. This is so important. Do not let rejection shake your identity because if you do, you react versus respond and you're moving out of desperation. Your experience doesn't disappear just because somebody said no. Constantly having to remind myself of that. So reframe the waiting. There's something powerful about this space, if we use it well. It's really freeing if we don't allow ourselves to get caught up in the world's tradition of you gotta have this, you gotta have that. You don't have to have these things. You need a place to slay, sleep, and eat and bathe. And if your needs are being met, there really isn't a reason to panic. But this is where you have the opportunity to build discipline. This is where you can strengthen your mindset. This is where you describe how you will show up when the right door opens. I want to move into um some rapid fire. If you're in the waiting season, here's how you can stay in motion. You can make money while you search. I've done some gigs and I find that to be very freeing and empowering. You can offer resume writing and LinkedIn optimization. You can take on contract work. Um, you can facilitate virtual workshops or trainings based on your gifts and your talents. What is something you know very well that others don't? Teach others about it, charge for that service. You can do interview coaching for some mid or entry-level professionals. You can join platforms, and I'm learning a lot about this for gig work, upwork, fiver, and top tall. Explore fractional leadership uh opportunities. That is a new and emerging thing. Fractional roles are more like temporary roles, but you're helping the company get from point A to B uh without having to fill a position full-time. You can leverage AI to move faster. Use ChatGPT cloud AI to tailor your resume for every role. You can use LinkedIn AI tools to refine your profile and your outreach. You can ask AI to identify companies hired for your exact background. You can use AI to prep for interviews with targeted questions and answers. I've even practiced interviews with AI. It's pretty brutal. Like it's my AI bot is pretty honest because I've written a code behind the scenes telling I don't want it to just tell me nice things or what it thinks I want to hear. It is telling me the truth. And it graded me in instances where I thought I was jamming, it was giving me a C. So it's really helpful. You could generate content too to stay visible and relevant online, write articles, make posts on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Remember, the goal is to keep showing up and stay present. You don't know who's watching you. You can also find some hidden opportunities to the point I've already made. Uh, search contract interim and consultant roles, reach out directly to hiring leaders, not just recruiters. Reach out to people in your network, uh, go have those quick coffee chats with people, uh, do some check-ins via Zoom or Teams, reconnect with your past colleagues and let them know you're open and on the market, and look for project-based work inside your network. The other thing you can do in this pause is strengthen your brand. Post weekly insights from your experience. It can be about how you're feeling during this job search. Share lessons from your leadership journey or your work journey in period, period if you're not a leadership. Turn your knowledge into short videos or podcast clips, like I'm doing right now. Position yourself as a thought partner, not just a job seeker. And you can also sharpen your edge. Like I just completed an AI for HR professionals five-week uh certification program, and it was so delightful. I enjoyed that learning experience so much. And they asked, because it was the first time that they offered it, they asked if they could get some people from the uh program to meet with the people who work at the company that designed it. It was offered through UMSL, but the owner of it was a different company. And they asked if we would be willing to give them feedback, and I said yes, like I often do. And I got to meet with a young lady who interviewed me and I gave them some really positive feedback, very glowing remarks, but I gave them ideas and feedback that could strengthen it the experience in a very constructive way. It was so rare. We see we had such a great conversation by the end of that conversation. She said, Rhoda, you should apply to become a learning success advocate. And I was like, Oh, because in my program, it was all online. We had a gentleman that was like the moderator, and periodically he would check in with us. If you had an issue, couldn't open a document, couldn't get something video to work, you would escalate it to him. She said, It's just part-time work. I was like, I can do that while I'm looking. I've generated I can generate some additional funds. So, guess what I did? I went and applied. She said, if you apply, let me know. I'll write a glowing recommendation. And she did. And guess what? I had an interview today, and they're gonna let me know about next steps next week. You can also study companies you want to work for, understand their challenges, and be ready to speak to those when you get that interview. You can practice your story out loud until it's clear and confident. I do this all the time, and then you can track your wins and quantify your impact because over time that's gonna help enhance and enrich your story. The most important thing, though, is to protect your energy. Set some daily structure for your job search, because early on, when I first started looking, I was just consumed with it all day long. That's not productive. You're gonna burn out, you're gonna get discouraged, and that's not the way to go. Block time to do job search specifically. And when you're not doing job search, put it out your mind. Limit how often you check for updates because otherwise you'll find yourself obsessing. Move your body. This is something I'm trying to get better at. Stay active, stay grounded, stay connected with the world, stay connected to the people, especially who remind you who you are. These are just some of the things that you can do. And I'll recap. Make money while you search is number one. Leverage AI to move faster is number two. Find hidden opportunities is number three. Strengthen your brand is number four. Sharpen your edge. Get some training and education if you can. And then finally protect your energy. While you wait, you should not be idle. You should be building, positioning, and preparing. Because guess what? This is temporary. Your time is gonna come, that moment is gonna come because when the right opportunity shows up, you won't be starting, you'll be ready. You don't have to get ready, you stay ready. So I'm still in it, I'm still applying, I'm still interviewing. I just had an interview this morning. I had two last week. I'm still learning, I'm still showing up, I'm still taking up space, but I'm also trusting the process because the right opportunity will not require me to prove my worth. The right opportunity will recognize it. This is Rhoda. I just wanted to drop in and share something I'm personally going through, and hopefully it resonates with you and it encourages you. Hey, let's be friends. Reach out to me on LinkedIn, send me a message. Do you want to be featured on the podcast? Give you an opportunity to chat it up. Do you want to be friends? Do you need an accountability partner while you go through this season? Reach out, follow me, share this episode with someone who may also be in this waiting series season of their life. And remember, while you wait, you're still becoming your breakthrough begins here. Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Hey, what's your secret? You got the kind of that leaves when speechless. It could be model multitasking genius. Yeah, you got it uh. Hey, what's your story? It can't get small and forty under forty. It's our practice in your high hill glory. I could do it uh.