Luck is often described as being in the right place at the right time, with much of what happens outside of your control. Being lucky in landing the perfect job can feel like it was destined to happen without much effort on your part. Job candidates who find a job unexpectedly will often describe how “it was meant to be” and I’m sure you have had similar situations in your life where everything falls into place.
While there is some truth that being in the right place at the right time creates an atmosphere where things can happen, according to Psychologist Richard Wiseman, who spends a great deal of time study luck, concluded that “luck isn’t something that happens to you rather it’s something that you look for”.
Dr. Wiseman describes luck as something that happens when you look out for it and participate in creating it. His findings can be very encouraging to you, especially if you believe that luck only happens to other people. In a job search when things don’t happen as fast as you would like them too it’s super easy to get in the comparison game of why things happen to other people and not you.
Adding luck to your job search can start anytime you decide to take a different course of action. The same routines you have used to find a job more than likely will produce the same results. Instead of seeing luck as only reserved for the special few, start believing that luck is created with you take action.
The truth is those that seem to get lucky breaks are often the ones willing to take risks and have developed an open mindset. Luck and the willingness to step out of comfort zone goes hand in hand.
A change in your employment no doubt creates an uncomfortable feeling, very few enjoy wandering in the marketplace hoping that a job will appear. Yet at the same time, when you stay in your comfort zone thinking it is safer to apply for positions rather than take the risk of doing something that feels uncomfortable you are setting yourself up for what you dread the most – a long job search.
For example, if you are shy about meeting new people or uncomfortable in talking about your career transition than chances are being comfortable is more important to you than taking a step towards doing something new – the action needed to create luck.
Here are what lucky people do – they trust their gut instincts and let their intuitions guide them in taking the next steps in their job search, knowing they need to do something different like networking and then they do it.
The scary risk that most people want to avoid is knowing that not every step they take is guaranteed to produce results. In a job search you will experience unplanned setbacks, rejection and disappointment however bouncing back makes you more susceptible to having good luck.
All the uncomfortable parts of a job search pave the way to help you solve problems and grow.
Develop a mindset of discovering opportunities. You never know the back story of the person that lands their dream job. The person who seems lucky might have experienced all kinds of setbacks over their career but used each one as leverage for the next step to take.
How would you describe a lucky person?