Unemployment reached record lows in 2019, but the competition for government jobs is always fierce. Federal employees, for example, often don’t secure positions the first or even second time they apply for one.
Being in a leadership position carries a lot of responsibility and decision making. Most of the time, the shots you call effect many others down the line and sometimes for years to come. While it’s almost impossible to please everyone, there are some ways to guarantee you’re equipped to make the right decisions.
For 13 summers, I worked in the Grand Canyon as a whitewater guide to pay for my college education. Running the river was the highlight of my young life to that point in time. I loved the beauty of the canyon and river, as well as the excitement and changing nature of our experiences. In order to keep my passengers and me safe, I learned very quickly to be focused not only on what was happening right then, but to look ahead, have a plan, consider what could happen, and have a plan for managing those contingencies.
Often people will work and work, then see others being promoted over them. They ask themselves: what have they got that I haven’t? Their typical solution – obviously I have to work harder! As a result, they buy into a dangerous narrative in which work dominates at the expense of everything else in life. The paradox, of course, is that the leaders who made the decision about your promotion have probably picked up on that.
Many online job listings state that a cover letter is optional. Meanwhile, some employment writers have suggested that cover letters are obsolete. Neither is true. A well-written cover letter is still an essential job-seeking tool.