Learn From Others Mistakes, Failures and Successes

An ice fishing outing a few weeks ago reminded me of a simple, yet valuable lesson. With weeks of cold weather and a previous weekend of successful ice fishing we thought we would try it again. The week had been beautiful with temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s and sunny, a nice change for Michigan. The weekend came and we decided to punch a few holes in the ice and see what was biting. It seems with ice fishing, the fish are either jumping out of the holes or hibernating; last weekend’s fish fry spurred us on for another try.

With several of us near the edge of the lake, a few brave fishermen stepped out onto the ice to find old holes to reopen or to drill new ones. This process also lets us know how thick the ice is and if it is safe to proceed. Three men were out on the ice when cracking was heard to our left and sent two of the men scrambling back to shore.

The last man was quite a ways to our right and thought his area being deeper, would be safe. We urged him to come off the lake but he insisted he would be fine. We watched with a little fear to see how thick the ice was as he began to use the auger on the ice.

Within seconds, cracking began around him. The sudden shift of ice beneath him caused him to drop the ice auger into the lake as the ice began to separate. Running down the shore and standing directly in line with him, we all thought we’d be attempting to rescue him or calling 911. Thankfully as he ran toward us he was just enough in front of the cracking to make it safely to shore. That ended our fishing expedition and gave us all a scare.

Later I wondered what kept him on the lake even though he knew from the cracking sounds, that the lake was unstable. Was it because he thought he knew the sounds of dangerous ice better than the others? Did he want to fish so badly that he ignored his “gut” and our urging to get off the lake? Or was it because we had fished safely the weekend before and many other times and just assumed he could do the same thing he always did, even on unsteady ice and still get the same results?

Job seekers are often faced with these types of decisions during their search, although probably in a little less dramatic form. My clients often tell me they have never had to have a targeted resume or use the internet as part of their search strategies, and are reluctant of the new tactics and potential results. They also watch others fail and think they can do the same type of minimal search but somehow be successful in landing a job.

As your job search becomes a long-term event, do you continue to do what you have been doing? Do you follow those who are also still unsuccessful in their job search? Or do you look to others who have successfully found jobs and follow their lead?

Trying something new might be just the ticket! Ask those you know that have been successful in their job search, what they did during their search. Find out what their routines were and how many hours a week they devoted to networking face-to-face? How many hours did they spend daily networking online? Which online sites were most helpful for them? How did they hear of their new job? Did they read about it or were they proactive in contacting a company that was not publicly recruiting for new candidates. Ask – Ask – Ask!!

Learning from the positive and negative results of others is the fastest and wisest route for a job seeker. Of course your strategy may develop differently than those you talk with, but you’ll see a pattern of motivation, hard work and smart moves that you too can follow and succeed with.