Is job hunting a way of getting to know oneself better?  In an ideal world it shouldn’t be.  In a perfect world I would work out exactly who I was, and then pootle of to find the job that matched the intricacies of my personality.

Unfortunately this two stage plan has two major flaws.  1: Almost all jobs are a mixture of good and bad points, and 2: finding out the intricacies of my personality would probably require years of contemplation in a remote monastery (after which it is odds on that I would conclude that I am not cut out to be a monk).  So, I am resigned to consigning that ideal world to the daydream bin (along with the high yield chocolate truffle / money tree hybrid) and accepting that I shall be starting without all of the required information and searching for something that doesn’t exist.

Fortunately that doesn’t mean that my job search is destined to end in disappointment.  Life is funny like that.

On a cheery note, I can say that I am better informed than I once was.  Certainly a few different jobs have helped me to reach varied conclusions about myself, some of them surprising (to me at least).  Despite this, when I ponder on a next possible career move, I find myself almost as confused as I was when considering my first job applications.  “What kind of thing are you looking for?” people ask, “something interesting” I respond.  This response, I realise, is only bested in the field of complete idiocy by the opposite reply of “something that bores me stupid”.  (Note the lack of a comma between “me” and “stupid”.)

So, am I a hopeless drifter with no passion or ambitions? No, although I make no claims about wishing to work two full time jobs whilst creating three separate start-up businesses on the side.  I just don’t have an easy response up my sleeve when people want to know where I am looking for work.  Whereas your talented street performer might say that they are applying to all of the travelling circus troops, I get bored of explaining that as a physicist with computing skills I just don’t have a ready made sector or proscribed pigeon hole.  Lots of different organisations may wish to make use of my abilities, but where do I start looking?  Answers on a post-card…  No, seriously, job searching winds me up, but it is definitely worth putting the effort in; I have had some good jobs and hope to see at least one more.  Did I have a point?  Ah yes, I did.

Successful job hunting has many important elements, but I reckon two weighty entries on the list are: thinking long and hard about who you are, and being blessed with a large slice of pie from the kitchen of Lady Luck.  Mmmm, pie!