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Not only does the individualist explanation fail to account for why unemployment rates rise and fall with fluctuations in the economy (if it were all about some people being lazy, you'd expect employment levels to hold more or less steady), it fails to account for why such large numbers of people become unemployed all at the same time, or why so many people who have been diligently looking for work for years are still unemployed. Sure, working hard to find a job is important. But blaming 100% of the problem on individuals is crazy.
How is blaming something you have no control over ever a productive exercise? You should absolutely put 100% of the blame on yourself. If you blame the economy, you will sit back, throw up your hands and say "well, it isn't my fault!" If you blame yourself, you will push yourself to work harder and make something of yourself.
For anything (not just job hunting), blaming something you have no control over does nothing to help the situation, so why do it?
you can recognize that there are factors beyond your control in your job search and still work on the ones that are within your control. acknowledging reality doesn't have to mean "throwing up your hands" and giving up.
The very definition of "luck" is something that happens beyond your control.
Let's look at a scenario. Three years ago, at my old job I was working in IT. An event beyond my control would be if they got rid of my job, but had a job opening in the finance department. Three years ago if that would have happened, I would have been out on the street since I had no finance experience.
Fast forward to today. I have spent a few years studying finance on the side and can now prove I have skills in that area. If I was still in IT and that same situation came up, I could easily take the job in finance because I improved my skills to handle a new scenario that is beyond my control.
That is making your own luck. The alternative is to sit on your ass, not improve yourself and blame 'bad luck' when something happens that you could have prepared for.
How is blaming something you have no control over ever a productive exercise? You should absolutely put 100% of the blame on yourself. If you blame the economy, you will sit back, throw up your hands and say "well, it isn't my fault!" If you blame yourself, you will push yourself to work harder and make something of yourself.
For anything (not just job hunting), blaming something you have no control over does nothing to help the situation, so why do it?
I less interested in what is "productive" than in what is TRUE.
Recognizing it is not all about you is actually empowering, not debilitating. People seek work because they have to. But if they know they can do their very best and still have trouble, they won't end up hating themselves.
you can recognize that there are factors beyond your control in your job search and still work on the ones that are within your control. acknowledging reality doesn't have to mean "throwing up your hands" and giving up.
Fair enough.
But making the best of situation you can't control isn't the same thing as "making your own luck."
I less interested in what is "productive" than in what is TRUE.
Recognizing it is not all about you is actually empowering, not debilitating. People seek work because they have to. But if they know they can do their very best and still have trouble, they won't end up hating themselves.
I want to find a way to succeed regardless of external circumstances. What is productive in getting me to that goal is the only truth I need.
I will beat myself up as long as it takes for me to build the skills needed to accomplish my goals. Blaming an external factor does nothing but make a person complacent.
I want to find a way to succeed regardless of external circumstances. What is productive in getting me to that goal is the only truth I need.
I will beat myself up as long as it takes for me to build the skills needed to accomplish my goals. Blaming an external factor does nothing but make a person complacent.
I agree with your attitude of not giving up in the face of adversity. What I don't agree with is this attitude that anyone who doesn't do what you do is somehow a lazy loser deserving contempt. That is the epitome of the tone deafness that characterizes a lot of the unwarranted animosity toward those unemployed due to the upheavals in our economy.
Blaming an external factor does nothing but make a person complacent.
maybe that's the case for you personally, but not everyone is the same as you.
for me, knowing that i am an excellent candidate and that there are external factors working against me keeps me going. i am still always looking for ways to improve, but if i took every rejection personally and blamed myself 100%, i'd be in a deep depression right now. plus it just wouldn't be true.
i mean, for example, i recently applied for a job (kind of a sideline job) answering customer service e-mails for a dating site. i was a close second to someone who was a longtime user of the site. i was told that if a new position opens up, it's mine, but i still didn't get the job. so if i was to take your advice and blame myself, i guess i could.... start cruising for dudes on the internet just in case something like this comes up again? become an active user of every website that has a customer service team? i've been in a relationship the entire time this website has existed, and i'm married now, so it's not like i had any reason to use it. i think it's fair that they chose that guy over me, but it's still not my fault. there's nothing i could have done to change this except going back in time and/or becoming a different person. or i guess i could have lied. things like this happen all the time when people are hiring. more than one person is great, but one person edges the others out for whatever reason. it doesn't mean the second choice person wouldn't also have done a great job.
another personal example - i was second choice for the job i have now. the first choice was a no-show on her first day. my bosses absolutely love me and rely on me, i get exemplary reviews, they've gone out of their way to get me a bigger merit raise, etc. but if that person had bothered coming in to work, they never would have hired me. so it's not like if you don't get a job, you're a miserable failure and there's something wrong with you. if there's more than one top notch candidate, they can't both get the job, you know?
Last edited by groar; 05-17-2013 at 09:42 AM..
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