People don’t talk about this enough. And it’s something everyone should know.

At the end of 2013, I was fired from the job I thought was my Dream Job. Heart-broken and struggling to know what to do next, I turned my attention to the job hunt that was suddenly thrust upon me.

Whilst dreading the thought of job hunting - especially after such a blow to my confidence - there was a part of me that was excited. A new chapter lay ahead. The possibility was endless. 

And I’d never really sat down and thought about where I wanted to go next in my career. So, despite the knock my confidence had taken, this also felt like an incredible opportunity.

The Reality

As the year 2014 began, my excitement was growing. This was going to be great, I told myself. By the start of Spring, I’ll have an amazing new job. And at the end of the summer, I’ll be off to Burning Man with my friends (a trip we already had planned). What a great year it was going to be.

As the months unfolded, it became clear - I would NOT have a new job by the beginning of Spring. Or the beginning of Summer. And that trip to Burning Man - cancelled due to uncertainty around further earning potential.

I wish someone had told me at the beginning of 2014: the job hunt will take SO MUCH LONGER than you think it will.

No one told me that. 

I honestly thought it would take max 3 months. I don’t know where I got that figure from. But that’s the one I had in mind. So it was utterly shocking for me when the whole job hunt took 8 months.

And honestly, 8 months is actually very average. I’ve been teaching the Creative Career Level Up  - my flagship coaching programme where I help people in Marketing and the Creative and Tech industries to find their next perfect role - for almost 4 years. And there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty - your job hunt will take so much longer than you think it will.

I wish someone had told me. So that’s why I'm telling you.

If you are heading into the last quarter of this year thinking ‘I’d love to get a new job and start at the beginning of 2024’, you might be surprised that it could be too late already!

So, get started now. Don’t waste anymore time. You’ll thank me for this advice.