Low Hanging Fruit is Not the Sweetest

Is it fear and loathing? Being a creature of habit and learned behaviors?  A lack of imagination? Or do we just tend to just take the path of least resistance?

All of the above, depending on the individual.

What qualifies as low hanging fruit when it comes to job opportunities?

• You follow your boss to the next company
  
• A colleague reaches out to bring you into their company.
  
• A headhunter calls and sells you on a position they want to fill.
• You see one posting, apply and they hire you.

Except for the last bullet, these are options driven by the needs and wants of others, not you. They all save us the big effort it takes to conduct a real, live job search. You don't need to strategically think about your career direction, identify your aspirations for the future, and...oh dread...reach out, grow and extend your network.

We are creatures of habit and learned behaviors so if you got recruited out of college and search people "placed" you in all your jobs, then we assume the past predicts the future. It doesn't in career advancement. As we climb to the top, there are fewer jobs and the competition is fierce. We don't just get "placed" as easily. And as we age, there is younger, less expensive talent competing for the same opportunities.  Your business sector may become commoditized and there is no room to grown professionally.

We don't realize that the best fruit can be harder to find, be at the top of the tree or hidden under leaves and branches.

Often our mentors, bosses and colleagues can be our undoing. They may as they move on bring you with them but that may not be the best option for you. I have seen professionals in a beleaguered companies and business units actively solicit their colleagues to join them. Did misery need company? Did they want to be rescued from their drowning struggles?  Were you misled or did you just not even expend the effort to find out about the mess you were getting into?

When we buy fruit at a stand or market it is often green and unripe, or bruised in the picking.

Today, the savvy professional, especially if not having conducted a search in the past 5 years, must:

• canvas the marketplace for talent in their business sector,
  
• find out about the current job market and new technologies used in search
  
• identify several options and directions open for their career now
• not just take what's handed to them but take the time to look at all options
• look in advance of needing to look to avoid being pressured

Low hanging fruit may be easy to reach, grasp and take but it may not be in the long-run the best option. There are not many take-backs in a reset economy, so pick wisely and well

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