Looking for a job is important for a lot of reasons, but the first and foremost is, of course, that a job pays money. You need that money to live; to buy your food, pay rent or mortgage, to store away for retirement or investment. So when you lose a job, or you’re new and itching to start your career, it’s easy to understand why you’d be thinking about just getting a job, any job, that’s remotely close to what you can do, and start collecting that salary.
But there’s are actually several reasons you shouldn’t do this. And all of them relate to your future and your career.
Always Think About Your Future
Your career is more than just a word to describe the kind of work you do. Your career defines who you are and your level of satisfaction with your life. If you have plans for what you want to do with your life, you need to ensure that the job choices you make will reflect your choices about who and what you want to be. A job can just be a temporary job to pay the bills, or it can be a valuable experience that teaches you more about the kind of profession you want to have, and ultimately enhances your professional life.
Don’t Undervalue Yourself
The term “overqualified” may sound like a polite form of rejection when talking about job applicants, but this is a real concern for employers. If you are capable of much more, and a potential employer is well aware of this, there will always be a concern on management’s part that the moment something better and more appropriate for you comes along, you will quit, forcing them to search for a replacement.
Be honest about who you are, what you are capable of, and what you want. If you do that, not only will you helping your own career, you will also be helping those who are hiring to make the right choices for the positions that they need.
