How Positive Desperation Can be Good for Your Job Search

Positive desperation is an entirely normal feeling in a job search. 

Many of us really (really) need a job, so life suddenly feels a little bleak if you have no idea when you will find a job that is right for you. Not any old job, but the one that will help to take your career to the next level. You have settled for second best too many times.

If you are desperate to find the “right” job (after a career of unhappiness and mediocrity), then desperation can become a motivatory driving force instead of something compelling you to take the first job going. You want to make a better choice this time. You need to.

The nature of such desperation means it needs to come from a place of primal emotion.

Positive desperation that is rooted in a drive to get away from poor decisions in the past can only be beneficial. It may feel a little scary as there won’t always be a clear direction for your energies. Knowing what you don’t want to do is enough of a start. Leaning into your positive desperation to avoid this will help you to swerve the easy options.

When the time comes for interviews, it is essential that this positive desperation bubbles under the surface rather than dominates the conversation. It will give you the courage to ask difficult questions to ensure your job is right for you. It will become a valuable ally for your gut when something doesn’t feel right. 

Value of positive desperation

Positive desperation will show an employer that you know your worth, value your career, and view an interview process as a two-way meeting of minds rather than a one-way interrogation. You will approach interviews with an open and curious approach, your body language will seem alert. You will challenge the interviewer with questions that anyone desperate for the job for the wrong reasons would never dare to ask.

Strive to be as balanced as possible with your behaviour and responses in an interview, but there is nothing wrong with letting your burning desire to find the right fit come into the open at opportune moments. Great recruitment is all about retaining talent, so the more that you interrogate the opportunity, the more likely you will be to stay if you are offered and accept the job.

So many people approach a job search wondering how they can show they are the “perfect candidate.” This attitude is deeply flawed, as every opportunity will be different, so they will bounce around trying to be all things to all people. The (positively) desperate candidate won’t fall into these negative behaviour patterns. They will centre their search around what they need (or at least initially avoid what they know they don’t need).

Positive desperation is a vital component of a successful job search. Its energy will help job seekers cut through the obstacles and disappointments and ensure they don’t settle for second best. When you are desperate for a better life, that just isn’t an option.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).