Balls In The Air

Many sales professionals know the phrase "balls in the air." In basic terms, you want lots of things going so you have the best chance of something good happening. Juggling one or two balls at a time leaves you with little to hope for should one or both fall to the ground. The more balls you toss into the situation, the more there are to make up for whatever falls through.

Since job seekers essentially become salespeople during the time they are out promoting their skills to potential employers, it would be wise for them to embrace the idea of getting as much going as possible to increase their odds of success. What tends to happen is a job seeker will do a couple of things, wait and see what happens with that and then move on to other options. Putting off new ideas, strategies or options for the sake of waiting to see what happens with what you've already done is not a good plan. A job hunt is a numbers game. The more you get out there, the more leads you are chasing, the more companies you are wooing, the better your odds of success. Adding strategy to the mix is great and it can help you accomplish more in less time. Excellent strategy with little to no activity won't get you very far though.

I've sat across the desk from plenty of job seekers who I had ideas for only to be told "well, I'd like to see what happens with ABC first because they are my first choice." I understand wanting to wait to accept another 'offer' when you don't know the status of your first choice. Waiting to turn up the volume on your job search is entirely different. It's one of the reasons job seekers find themselves frustrated or feeling defeated. When there aren't a lot of balls in the air there just isn't a whole lot to be hopeful about. Not to mention prospecting 25 companies one at a time to gauge their potential versus all at once really drags out a job search.