Thanksgiving, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November by federal legislation in 1941, has been an annual tradition in the United States by presidential proclamation since 1863 and by state legislation since the Founding Fathers of the United States. Historically, Thanksgiving has traditionally been a celebration of the blessings of the (agricultural) year, including the harvest.
For many of us, Thanksgiving is a special holiday spent with friends and family. During this time, we take the time to reflect on the previous year and count our blessings. Many families share a tradition at the holiday dinner table where each individual expresses their gratitude for a blessing that occurred during the year.
For a job seeker, it is often hard to count your blessings during the roller coaster events that occur during a job search. It can be difficult to maintain a positive attitude of gratitude when your numerous job applications go into the black hole of no response, when recruiters don’t return your call, when the ideal job was offered to the other candidate, and when friends and family aren’t as supportive as expected through the process.
In psychological studies conducted by various researchers, gratitude is associated with greater happiness, positive emotions, strong relationships, better health, and stronger coping skills. Studies by Harvard Business School and Wharton School show that being grateful for the good things in our lives will help us be more successful. Don’t we all want to present our most successful selves in our career search?
As you sit down to the Thanksgiving table and count your blessings, take time to consider these reasons to be grateful:
- Give thanks for the friends, colleagues, connections, and job networking group volunteers who provided resources and job search assistance.
- Give thanks for the friends and colleagues who provided LinkedIn recommendations, endorsements, and letters of reference.
- Give thanks to the senior executive who provided some valuable time and job search advice.
- Give thanks for the former colleague who introduced you to three of his key contacts and gave you two great job leads.
- Give thanks for the time spent in self-discovery, for new skills learned or new passions developed.
- Give thanks if unemployed for severance benefits, outplacement assistance, and salary or benefits continuation.
- Give thanks for friends and family members that you can lean on during the emotional ups and downs of the job search.
- Give thanks for the extra time to focus on what is most important: family, friends and relationships.
- Give thanks for new professional contacts and new professional relationships.
- And finally give thanks for the new position that you will eventually land.
Extend some Thanksgiving gratitude to everyone you come into contact with during your job search. What you give to the world and others will be returned to you.
We would like to wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving from The Frontier Group.
