Navigating the Job Search Doldrums

dol·drums /?dōldr?mz,?d?ldr?mz/ noun

• a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression."the mortgage market has been in the doldrums for three years" synonyms:depression, melancholy, gloom, gloominess, downheartedness, dejection, despondency, low spirits, despair.
• an equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds.

If you sail, you know that sometimes winds aren't as forecast, and at times they're non-existent. Such is weather - not completely understood, yet seeming capricious and -- at times -- mocking.

I myself don't sail too much, and have never sailed near the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean. That isn't to say I haven't recently felt like the boat in the picture at the top of this article... job search-wise.

After a rousing start to my quest with dozens of applications sent (please hold your Quality-vs-Quantity comments for Q&A), and a handful of phone interviews, I awoke to find the wind a bit missing from my figurative sails. The helium hissing our of my balloon. You get the idea. Many companies never even acknowledged my application. Some passed at the outset -- others passed after 1-2 phone interviews. I'd had more than one phone interview with tough coding questions, and I had to admit to them -- and myself -- that I'd not done Pure Development in several years, couldn't write a B-Tree transversal algorithm on the fly for an interviewer, and couldn't quote every important new Java 8 feature.

I was crushed.

After moping for 20 milliseconds or so, I Got Real. I Got Woke. I ran the self-diagnostics.

Of course you can write code and architect/design systems and fix bugs with the best of them, Son. You've done all that before. You could do it again. But be honest with yourself. You're a problem solver most at home in a room with others solving problems. You're a people person. You're a generalist. You're a communicator. You're a synthesizer (digital, not analog, thank you very much!). You see the Big Picture, even while troubleshooting that network routing issue and building your next home fileserver.

Look to your strengths. They're good strengths. Strong strengths, one could even say (well, not in writing)! Lead with 'em. You're senior. You're experienced. You learn quickly. This is what you do well TODAY! Leverage what you have, not just what you could be. Look for the winds that are already blowing hale and hearty!

In the space of two working days, I've gone from self-labeled Technical Incompetent (after breaking off an interview Friday for a Development job) to Consulting Architect candidate (and an interview today which really 'clicked'). Same guy. Same skill set.

Same boat. Same ocean. And the winds returned.

The winds always return. Make sure your sails are ready.