Today marks the exact two year anniversary of when I was offered and accepted my last corporate role.
I fully expected to stay at the company for much longer and wasn’t planning to be back on the market right now. But since I am, I’ve had some time to reflect on how differently I’m approaching this whole interview process.
The last time I was looking, my questions were pretty simple. Is it a good job title? Does it pay well? And will it look good on my CV?
If the answers were yes to all of them, I applied.
This time around though, I’m looking at jobs in a completely different way. If you haven’t guessed already, the most important thing to me used to be looking and feeling successful. But the reality of it is, being Successful on Paper means nothing if you are miserable deep down.
Having time away from working over the last 6 months or so has really allowed me to develop a better relationship with my career. I can still be ambitious, without my self-worth being tied to achievement and costing me my wellbeing.
The other part of this is of course the market itself. The rules have changed, but it turns out I was still playing by a few of the old ones myself.
Behind the paywall
The rest of this post is where I get honest about my own job hunt, with the real numbers and the boundary I broke along the way. It’s the stuff I don’t share anywhere else, especially while I’m still interviewing.
Sign up to Off Paper for less than a cup of coffee (£6 per month) and unlock the whole archive, including Part 1 of this series.
Tempted? Sign up using your browser to avoid any extra charges in the Substack app.