Job Hunting: It’s A Game Of Poker

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Job Hunting: It’s A Game Of Poker

by Paul Mullan on October 6th, 2010
35 Comments

The weekly card sessions I played throughout my teens bring back fond memories. Some would say a misspent youth, or time wasted, but I would say time well spent. I had great fun, great laughs, and I learned many important lessons. I have used these lessons as a job seeker, and more recently as a business owner (even though I still see myself as a job seeker). Below I have outlined two lessons, but I am sure you can add many more examples to this list.

If only I listened to Kenny Rogers…

I held onto many bad hands, but should have folded. I guess this was inexperience, denial, and not taking on board the advice from Kenny Rogers – “know when to hold them, know when to fold them”. I did eventually learn this lesson, the hard and expensive way Knowing when to fold them is important during job search. Quite often we stick with hands that should be folded. It is important to leave the “denial camp”, and face down what isn’t working. This is often easier said than done! We are all guilty of acting like an ostrich, ignoring the facts in the hope that they go away. Accept the facts, and take action. Your results never lie. If you are not getting the results you want, you must change. Change your strategies/approach to job search, or your attitude, but ensure you change.

You know what they say about a big stack…

I quickly realised that my confidence levels were directly related with the size of my stack. More poker chips increased confidence, openness to taking risks, and reduced the dwelling on loss/setback. This is the “Poker Chip Theory” outlined by Jack Canfield. During job search, you can bring more chips into the game. How do you do this? Revisit your past successes. This will help improve your self-esteem, and confidence. List 100 successes in your life, and relive those moments. I have done this – it works! We have a tendency to focus on the negative. Change this, and start overdosing on the positive. Creating a bigger stack of chips will – increase your confidence during job search, open you to taking risks to stand out in a crowded job market, and help you get over setbacks (like interview rejection) quicker. These are all essential ingredients, when searching in this job market.

What do you think? Share your comments below!

Join us for useful poker tips (aka job search discussion and advice) at Measurability Careers & Jobs Club on LinkedIn. Free career events: I will be speaking at GradIreland Career Fair in RDS (Wed 13th Oct @ 3.30) Topic: Job Hunting – Creativity. I have been approached to present at two FREE events in Cork/Limerick (November – t.b.c) - Topic: How to Develop your Online Brand.

Category: coaching, HR and recruitment, Self- development

Tags: confidence, creativity, Fear, Job Hunting, Job Search, Risk

The Author: Paul Mullan

Paul Mullan is an experienced career and outplacement professional with 14 years experience working within careers, outplacement and recruitment in the UK & Ireland. He is a former owner of Eden Recruitment and founder of career firm Measurability in 2006. Paul has delivered outplacement programmes for many leading organisations and ran graduate career workshops for leading third level institutions. He has worked with many individuals helping them define and achieve career goals through creative approaches to personal marketing and job hunting. Paul integrates traditional strategies with new Web 2.0 strategies to deliver optimum results. He is known for his up to date, creative and friendly approach to delivering career solutions. Paul is a recognised career professional regularly commenting on career related topics in the national media. He has acted as Career Doctor with Irish Independent and he is currently an online career expert with RecruitIreland. http://www.measurability.ie

Add Your Comment

http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

Nice one Paul. For some people it’s really difficult, in practice to “focus on the positive”. I think the exercise of going through your success should be really good. I bet many start that test saying “I never succeeded”.
Hung Lee

I must comment on any Job Search post that manages to reference the great Kenny Rogers! Great post Paul. I would introduce a third concept from the tables that translates to the Job Search – you must have a strategy if you want to win in the long run. This may be a little at odds with your ‘big stack’ (ahem), but I would warn against the overconfidence that can come off the back of a good win – your biggest enemy is the euphoria which lead you to play with unnecessary risk and distract you from the game plan – almost certain to guarantee losses at the end of the day.

Good article – anyone else got anymore tips from the table?

Regards

Hung

http://wisemansay.co.uk/blog/
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hey Paul, loving the new pic! I think the idea of revisiting successes is excellent. With all that’s going on at the moment building a positive outlook is key and one sure way to stand out.
Anonymous

Hung

You make a couple of great points.

Strategy for job search (and poker) is essential. As the great man Kenny R says – “If you’re gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right”

This is for you (and any other KR fans) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn481KcjvMo

Thanks for the comments

Paul
Anonymous

Dead right Fred — “I have no successes” is a common response.

We all have successes. It’s like the story of the young girl with work. During our conversation she told me she had left school at 13, as her mother took ill. She had to self-school herself – learn to read and write. She had a daughter at 21, and brought her up as a single mum. She moved to Ireland at 25 (with her young daughter), knew nobody, and spoke very little English. At the time of meeting she had a good job, a house, settled in Ireland, and could speak better English than me. Interestingly this girl told me she had no real achievements, because she associated achievements with qualifications. I felt the complete opposite. I was amazed at what she had achieved ….

Thanks for the comments …..
Anonymous

Niall – thanks for the comments.

RE: Photo – It’s amazing what photographers can do with a picture . My only other option was to land a part as an extra on the show Nip n’ Tuck.

P
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

LOL
Julieanne Lawler

Paul,

Excellent article – As a poker nut it definitely appealed to me!
Something that occurred to me when I read this article is the fact that in a poker game you have one goal – to win (those that play for the fun – mmmmmmmm- not so sure). Everything you do at the table and every choice you make is your own, you are in charge – you have no apologies to make for the steps you need to take to achieve that goal (trapping, bluffing etc) and there is little to hide -most people at the table have the same goal – to win – why would you play if you didn’t believe you had the capability to win.

This openness and honesty about your goal and your methods of achieving it is completely accepted, this instils the confidence in you to do whats needed – second guessing yourself at the poker table is NOT a good move. I am not saying for one minute that we need to bluff and trap our way to achieving our goals but having utter focus and belief in what you want and your methods of achieving this could be a valuable lesson from the felt!

Cheers
JA
Anonymous

Thanks for the comments JA…. Very will put.

Like poker – job hunting requires goals, belief, and focus.

I am not a big fan of play for fun either

Paul
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

A great post Connor, indeed it is important to think outside the box when using Social Media and Social Networking. You have provided some great titbits there.nSocial Networking is here to stay I believe, and like ATM cards, everyone will be using it in some form or other pretty soon, with out the fear of God himself.nI just posted a status on twitter this morning wondering if we will all have QR codes as our avatars within 6 months, what do you think? Will we become little black & white squares instead of funky profile pictures?
http://www.connorkeppel.com Connor Keppel

Who knows Elaine. It’s mad to think that QR codes have been around since the mid-nineties! They have really taken off though! Have you tried getting your own QR Tee-shirt? http://www.qrstuff.com/ I would consider it for the intrigue as many people may not know what it’s about!nnThe examples are very small really but it’s getting into the frame of mind and more importantly getting others on board into the frame of mind that you can use social media in any department to create innovation. Spread the word from department to department and get people on board
http://www.connorkeppel.com Connor Keppel

Hi Niall,nnI originally went to school beside that garage would you believe in Tullow That’s a fantastic idea. Again simple in a sense but so clever. If you have to start looking to make up things to justify social media you’re in trouble – that’s a great way to target a market that exists through Facebook and take the fear out of picking up the phone if they want. Kudos! nnMy examples are really very small – but they’re about getting into a frame of mind. When people think of innovation they very often think of science and technology and futuristic developments. Innovation to me is an everyday approach and state of mind that we take when approaching our daily work
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

lol, small country! n
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Lewis, nnThis is not only one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read, it simply one of the best pieces I’ve ever read. You’ve encapsulated in this post what many of us struggle to communicate, it’s a wonderful talent! nn”They have mastered the creative process and they can think on their feet. Thatu2019s why they command substantial fees” nnSo true, and often very difficult for the traditionals, the establishment and organisations to come to terms with. nn”But it does mean that they are willing to go there u2013 to take the risk of not knowing, and have the courage to work with the situation, in the moment.” nnI would also add understanding that it is also the right thing to do, we should always flirt with failure, LIVE by it’s edge! for it’s only there that great things can happen.nnGreat post Lewis and one that people should read and then re-read until it’s message is clear.nnThank you so much for sharing, nNiall
Anonymous

Brilliant post Lewis. I concur with Niall – one of the best I’ve read in a long time.nnAs I read it I could help but think about some of the work I’m currently doing in my workplace. Our team are trying to encourage and help employees and teams to collaborate and communicate more effectively with customers, partners and each other, by taking advantage of the new ways of working offered by Social Media.nnIt’s fascinating to see how many people/teams come to us expecting us to provide a silver bullet that will solve all of their woes. What I’ve found is that the success stories we see are coming from those in which people create the time and space to actually think about what they need to change and then generating creative solutions to their problems. nnI believe that half the battle is actually taking the time and space that gives you the opportunity to be creative. We are all guilty of being too busy doing things and then we complain that we can’t be creative. nI’m starting to learn that creativity requires time and space and a lot of patience.
Facundo

Very inspiring after a tough week Lewis. I agree with the lads’ takeaways and also wanted to show you this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHZgGDv7pfM Have a look at minute 1:55. We spotted the same kind of guy recently and had a very similar feeling to yours (“Wow, this guy got creative and can do anything”).
http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairu00e9ad Kelly

I too love this! It is so thought provoking and inspiring at the same time. As someone who promotes getting out of our comfort zones as a way of life this hits home with me. There is something of the tortured artist in this post that yearning for more and not being understood enough. I think routine can hold us back if we stay with it, however in the beginning routine can set the pace to make the changes we need to make the differences we want in the world and in our businesses.
Anonymous

Wow! I am humbled and very thankful for all the wonderful comments, Tweets etc about this post. Thank you all! To be honest, I was stuck for ideas and I knew I had to do something before the end of the month. So I guess I threw caution to the wind and wrote from the heart. One of those rare moments. :0)nnIt’s late, and I have to get up early to go back to a conference all day tomorrow, but I really want to answer all of you properly when it’s finished. I thought you’d all be watching the wedding….
Anonymous

Well said, Lewis.
Anonymous

Quite right. Fred!nnMany thanks for your thoughts.nn:0)nLewis
Anonymous

Creative ideas tend to come when you are relaxed and enjoying yourself. I hear this all the time. And no, our culture doesn’t seem to promote that, does it. Many thanks for your comment.
Anonymous

I couldn’t agree more, Dane. He’s a great example of someone who does it right!
Anonymous

Many thanks Mairu00e9ad. And you’re right – actually, there’s more than a little of the tortured artist in there!nn;0)nLewis
Anonymous

Really great post, Thank you for sharing This knowledge.
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Hi Neil, Great post and explanation of what crowd-funding is all about. I love the the concept of crowd funding but wonder if it lends itself more to certain types of businesses/ideas. But as I think about it again, this may be down to the fact that it hasn’t really reached more main stream businesses just yet.
http://neilsisson.com/ Neil Sisson

Hey Niall, adoption seems to have been primarily in the creative space to date, however there is some huge money changing hands in some market niches. I’m involved with a mobile application development funding crowdfunder called AppsFunder.com and they are funding the development of paid and fremium mobile apps.

Here in Ireland there’s a company called Fundit.ie that seem to be funding everything and anything. There are also a number of debt/equity funding platforms out there which are more traditional in approach, where each member of your funding crowd actually own a piece of your company. Not sure I like that model as much.
http://neilsisson.com/ Neil Sisson

Thanks Anton – yeah I agree completely and that’s backed up by feedback from a number of VC funds and angel investors that I’ve spoken to. Getting funded definitely skews the risk calculation in favour of the entrepreneur and while it in itself isn’t the holy grail, its a massive achievement and step in the right direction.
http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairéad Kelly

Brilliant post Neil, you explain it so well. It is a lot like the likes of the charity funding for small businesses in third world countries for example http://www.kiva.org/

One question; does that funding ever have to be repayed or is it basically an advance payment on a product/service that is being developed?
http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

That’s great to hear. I love the concept all round and it’s so encouraging to see it flourishing – especially in the current economy – as so many people have great ideas but just don’t have the funds to see if they are winning ones. Have been checking out AppsFunder too after your last post – one to watch.
http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

Love this post Neil, it’s nice and practical and comes from the real world It’s one thing to have a great idea, but quite another to develop it, fund it and get paying customers. I particularly like the added benefits you list at the end, start-ups need advocates and having the drive an imagination to find your own funding sources says a lot about an entrepreneur. If a start-up could target a “crowd” that would be a form of product endorsement as well, so much the better.
~ Helen
http://neilsisson.com/ Neil Sisson

Thanks Helen.
http://neilsisson.com/ Neil Sisson

Hi Mairéad, thanks for your comments. To answer your question, there has been an explosion of crowd funding platforms in the last couple of years. There are a lot of them out there now and there are a number of different business models they operate under.

I’ve seen platforms that require you give your Funders a chunk of the equity of your business. Others just work on an almost voluntary donation system where the Funders don’t receive reciprocal value for their investment (some of the arty ones work like that).

The best ones in my view are the type that operate on the model I outlined in my example – i.e. the business owner retains 100% equity but gives his/her Funders a Return on their Investment. It doesn’t have to always be cash either, it could be cool stuff or kudos or membership to an exclusive “club” of supporters.
http://www.appointmentsetting.com/ simonswills

Excellent post and description of what crowd-funding is all about. I really like the the idea of crowd funding but wonder if it gives itself more to certain kinds of businesses/ideas. But as I think about it again, this may be down to the truth that it hasn’t really achieved more major river companies just yet.
http://www.grow-connect.com/ Seed Capital

Great pic. It’s good to see people uniting for one goal . Thanks for the share .
http://charter-tv.spruz.com/pt/Charter-TV-for-cheap-deals.6-25-2012/blog.htm Patrick Hudson

The concept is good but i doubt its success. How many are ready to put their money into others business and that too without any major profit for them. But the idea of doing this kind of funding is interesting.

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