On the Prowl

So, I've been job searching lately, and it occurred to me that it is a great deal like hunting, or fishing, or dating. These are the commonalities between the these activities:

a) The search is often uncomfortable and really challenges your confidence

b) One foolish mistake and the whole thing's a bust

c) Good prey don't come along very often, and the better they are the more fickle they can be

d) You are at the mercy of the conditions that you are hunting in

e) You either have to get up super early or go to bed super late to successfully prowl

f) You often have to 'fool' your prey to make them think you are something other than yourself (You know, in cammo as a hunter, a tasty bug or worm in fishing, someone who always looks fabulous in dating, and the-best-thing-since-sliced- bread-or-indoor-plumbing in job searching)

In short, it blows. The upside is that I have found a whole bunch of jobs that I am applying to. The downside is that I know competition in fierce right now, and if there was ever a time to bring my A-game, baby, this is it.

All in all, I know that this is completely out of my hands, and I guess that's where the inner struggle is coming from. Every time I e-mail off a resume, or fill in a maddening online application (which, incidentally, has all of THE EXACT SAME INFO THAT WAS PAINSTAKINGLY PUT ON MY RESUME), I know that I have relinquished control and thrown the ball in someone else's court.

The good news is that my faith gives me the comfort to know that that court that I've just thrown the ball in is God's court. And He loves me, even if I don't have a proven track record of business to business sales, graduate degree, and 3-5 years of managerial experience.