Gratitude as a Job Search Strategy
By: Jess Brunelle
Tags: Job Search, Interview, Covid 19, Gratitude, Jobs

Picture this: you're sitting around a crowded table about to dig into a Thanksgiving feast and, as you go to take that first delicious bite — a relative asks everyone to go around the table and say what you are the most thankful for this year. This scene in 2020 was likely a bit less crowded than years past or perhaps occurred over Zoom entirely, and the gratitudes voiced, for those lucky enough for it to be true, likely centered on health and support, but the tradition remained. Unfortunately for many, this is the only time all year that they will speak their gratitude.

But what if vocalizing gratitude was more than a once-a-year coerced in exchange for turkey ritual, and rather a strategy, not just for a more fulfilling life, but to land the job you really want? Practicing gratitude consistently — and not just the fourth Thursday of November — is a winning way to gain clarity in your job search and re-establish connections that can both help you discover opportunities and provide a fresh perspective in your search.

As I wrote in 101 Interviews in 2020, my mindset was foundational to enabling my 7+ month job search during a global pandemic to be more productive and sustainable than scattered and hopeless. In addition to meditation and letting yourself actually feel emotions, I wrote about my version of a daily gratitude practice — simply writing down 5 things I’m thankful for as I eat breakfast with a conscious attempt to not repeat one from yesterday. Although this basic morning practice has transformed my mood and something I recommend to anyone that will listen— it’s not the type of gratitude practice that serves as a job search strategy.

Rather, gratitude as a job search strategy involves understanding the gap between your vision for your next role with what you’re grateful for and looking to those in your network that can help fill that gap.

Let’s break that down step-by-step because this is likely both a new way of practicing gratitude and a new way of thinking about your job search.

FIRST, MAP OUT THE QUALITIES OF YOUR IDEAL ROLE

To start, I encourage you to spend the time and energy establishing clarity in what you want in your next role. There are many ways to gain clarity on your vision for your next role depending on how you best generate ideas but, for me, writing is how I make sense of my thoughts. For those that also gain clarity with writing, I recommend setting a timer for no more than 20 minutes and picking a prompt to generate ideas for your ideal role — I’ve included a few of my favorites below:

What aspects of past roles did I find most fulfilling?

What aspects of past roles filled me with dread?

When has work not felt like work and why?

What do I value most in a job? What do I value most in a company?

Who do I most admire professionally and why?

After processing what you want most in your next role, the end product of this clarity work is what I call a Vision List complete with 5–10 items that summarize what you’re looking most for in your next role.

THEN — MAP OUT WHAT YOUR MOST GRATEFUL FOR IN RELATION TO YOUR IDEAL QUALITIES

For every item on your vision list, think of at least two things that you’re thankful for that relate to what you want. It’s difficult to describe this exercise in the written form without some consultation or live explanation but I’ll try my best: In my example on the left, my #1 item on my Vision List was to work at a mission-driven company. To connect gratitude to this idea, I asked myself questions like: why is that so important to me? Have I experienced that in my past? And most importantly, what am I thankful for that allows me to prioritize this idea as my most sought after quality in my next role? I very quickly came up with two distinct ideas:

I am thankful to have worked at a company in the past that gave me a real taste of what mission-driven means.

I am thankful to know of a few founders that made their mission core to growth and by following them, I see the value of being mission-driven.

CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN YOUR GRATITUDE AND YOUR VISION LIST WITH OUTREACH TO A FEW HUMANS

You’ll find by reading my other articles that my job search strategies center on the power of human connection. So naturally, after you’re clear on what you want by creating your Vision List and what you’re grateful for that connects to that Vision List — the last step is to brainstorm and reach out to who you know — or know of — that can help close the gap by sharing with them both what you're grateful for, why you thought of them and what you’re looking for next. To build on my example, I reached out to the founder of a mission-driven company I had worked for previously and two early-stage founders, one I knew well and the other a more distant connection, that are both building companies that I believe have a strong mission and are making a real impact.

The way by which you reach out and the words you use shouldn’t be prescriptive so for this strategy, I won’t give you a template because templatizing outreach rooted in gratitude defeats the purpose. The words you use and the way you say or send them should be both authentic to your gratitude and connected to what you’re looking for in a role.

Sometimes you’ll get a timely response, likely from those closest to you that you’ve reached out to, but more often than not you won’t hear back. First, recognize that this silence likely has nothing to do with you or your message but rather the circumstance of the busy lives we all leave. After a few days, muster the courage to follow-up by respectfully reinforcing your message and ensuring that whatever you’re asking is crystal clear.

Don’t be mistaken — this is as much a job search strategy as a therapeutic exercise and even with no response, which happens, especially if the person you’re reaching out to is as busy or high profile as Whitney Wolfe Herde (if you’re reading this — let’s talk). This exercise of gaining clarity in what you want, being intentional of what you’re thankful for that connects to your vision and reaching out to people that can help close the gap to getting what you want in your next role serves you well, even without a perfect response rate. This exercise will open you up to new possibilities and inject a fresh perspective into what’s likely, in this current market, a tiresome and stale job search.

NEED MORE HELP?

I hope you take away something new that gives you success but also realize that just reading an article may not be enough. If you’d like access to templates & resources I’ve created for job seekers thus far, please subscribe to my mailing list. I’d love for you to let me know in the comments here what resonates with you and what you still have questions about. Last, if you can spare a few minutes, take this survey so I can further design how to help you beyond just the written word.

Deep breaths 🙏. — you’ve got this!