#14. Confessions of a Job Seeker – Nov. 2012
This series is based on a design journal that I kept between 09/12 – 02/13. New? Start here.

As I continued with my job search, I began to focus on cultural fit. Unfortunately, this is not something that you can easily search for (believe me, I’ve tried). I was willing to put in the legwork though, and knew that this would mean connecting with lots of different people. In the beginning I reached out to friends and former colleagues, but soon I was following up on random intros, going to events and saying ‘yes’ to pretty much everything.

For a while, coffee meetings became a way of life. There were days when I’d leave meetings with the sense that I was floating in career purgatory. There were also many occasions though, when I’d walk away from conversations completely energized and inspired. During this time I got to meet a lot of very cool and interesting people and even made some new friends. Having an open mindset and genuine curiosity for others led to events that have since unraveled into a whole chain of possibilities. I knew that my efforts would not necessarily result in short-term gains, but that was not the point. I believe in seeding serendipity and am in it for the long run anyway.