The Three Types of Job Searchers


Possible grew out of many motivations, but one was a mistake I made when I was already 3 months into a transitionary moment between careers.

At the time, I was having a conversation with a leader from my first internship, Roger Murff, whose wisdom I continue to admire. He listened to me explain what I️ thought I️ wanted and then told me:

“There are three types of job searchers and two of them I can help.”


The two job searchers Roger could help:


1. The career explorer

‍The  “career explorer” isn't a job searcher at all. This person is looking for what they want to do next, and to get connected to companies or people that would help them learn. They reach out to get a better idea of an industry, role, or skills needed for the spaces they are considering (e.g. HR or Product Management). The key here is that the career explorer is seeking wisdom, not a job.

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2. The intentional job searcher

The second type of job seeker that Roger could help is the one who knows exactly what they want and why. This person was willing to be career explorer at one point and authentically explore their options and then built the skills necessary to get the jobs they are looking for and the knowledge of the space to articulate how they could do ithe role.


The job searcher Roger couldn't help:


3. The confused job seeker

The third type of job seeker that Roger couldn't help is the one who doesn't really know what they want, but also wants a job. That person was me. The job can only come after you were willing to explore .

It stung a little and it felt like I wasted three months, but it pushed me to explore my interests, and then to be confident when I️ knew what I wanted. It freed me to go back to being a career explorer.

It led me to proactively define what I wanted next. And eventually was one of the driving forces for starting Possible.