You’ll start applying really soon. Like, later today. You’ll just take one more look online.
You’ll send that cover letter and resume after one more edit. One more pass. If you get it just right, they’ll notice you and call you in for the interview.
You’ll get out the door for that interview, but that shirt you’re wearing isn’t quite right. A lighter shade of blue will look better with those pants.
You’ll get back to them about the offer. But first, you’ll wait one more day to see if the other job, the slightly better job, might call you for an interview.
Perfectionism is a beast. I know. It’s one of my demons that meets me at the breakfast table each morning for coffee.
“So, you’re really going to publish that blog post?” it says. “It’s 15 words long.”
“Thanks for your input. I’m going to ignore that. Cream?”
Anne Lamott famously wrote that “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.” There are so many reasons to keep this in mind. Most importantly, remember that this demon masquerades as a helpful guy. He just wants to protect you, he says. He’s lying, of course.
Let’s do what Seth Godin suggested a decade ago, and what I’d tattoo to my forearm, if I weren’t worried about the tattoo artist giving me something not quite perfect.
“Ship it.”
Send the resume, screw the shirt, take the offer (or not, but don’t leave them hanging). There is no perfect moment, perfect resume, perfect shirt.
Conduct a good enough job hunt and get moving.
