The career counselor's true test is her ability to assist a loved one (especially one they live with) navigate the job search. Now I'm speaking from personal experience here when I say that it is not easy for a career counselor, often times known for their interest and expertise in all things "job search," to live with a job-seeker that might lack some of the same enthusiasm for the topic. Okay, by now you probably realize I'm not speaking in the hypothetical. My boyfriend finished graduate school without a job offer in hand. Since we live together and spend a lot of time together, I naturally wanted to share all my resources with him. My desire to impart to him every teeny bit of knowledge was not deterred by his evil looks, overt sighs, and avoidance of me.
Fast forward 6 months and boyfriend, now fiance, has finally secured his first, full-time permanent, job within his desired industry. No, he did not spend 6 months sitting on his you know what. From a maternity-leave coverage, to weekly per diem jobs, to a permanent position in a physical therapy clinic, the fiance was doing pretty well for himself. So, needless to say, we were happily surprised, not to mention unsure of how to proceed, when a long-forgotten interviewer called him out-of-the-blue to ask him to come back in. Turns out their former first-choice candidate "hadn't worked out."
Needless to say, his job search is an excellent example in perseverance, hard work, and luck - all of which proved to be essential in this job search story. And, as far as this career counselor's concerned, I am more than glad that I won't be taking my work home with me anymore. I'm pretty sure the fiance's glad about that, too.
