If you have a "good" job, how did you get it?

seeker

Wed, Jun 11 2014, 7:56 pm

I think it's all a lot of mazel, really. You talk to everyone you can, apply to anything that looks good, and pray for the best. Also, try as much as you can to research a job before taking it - that won't necessarily help you get better jobs, but it will help you NOT take bad jobs (and waste time and energy on them.)

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by a rough string of jobs. Every job has its ups and downs. I have been working in a place that has many positives and things I like about it, and yet I still managed to have a very rough year - there are better ones and worse ones. It can depend on the kids, what's going on in their lives, even what's going on in your colleagues' lives!

Maybe it would help to refine what it is you didn't like about your previous jobs and let that inform what you are looking for in your next one. Then you can work on finding possible matches, and THEN work on how to sell yourself to them.

I've had a number of jobs, all had their ups and downs but none were really awful (I usually moved on for personal life change reasons, or to look for higher salaries) and only one was really gotten through networking. The others I just kind of found on my own or answered ads, and worked on presenting myself as the person they wanted.