One of the biggest mistakes all of us are guilty of making is accepting a position before we have thoroughly analyzed it to ensure that it is the right position for us. I’m sure most of you some time in the past have accepted a position only to regret it several months later. The worst part is, you usually feel compelled to stay with the job for at least a year so your resume will not portray you as a job hopper.

Another terrible injustice many of us perpetrate upon ourselves without even knowing is allowing an almost perfect job to pass us by. While many of us might say they love their job, there is always that ‘perfect job’ that everyone has defined in the back of their head. The problem is, the only time people look for the perfect job is when they actually need a new job.

New Job

So, no matter what the reason, you should always keep a toe in the water when it comes to looking for a job. If you have just completed a long and extensive job search and have landed what you think is the perfect job, don’t stop searching for a few weeks while you get settled into your new job. If you work at a company less than a month you can generally leave it off of your resume.

Also, don’t burn any bridges when you accept a new position. If you were scheduled to interview with another company, make sure you contact them and let them know that you have accepted a new position. Let them know that you appreciate the time and will definitely look in their direction if you are searching for a job in the future.

The main reason behind doing this is that you never know how long a position might last. You might accept a job one month and get laid off the next. Or you might decide that the position that looked so great last month looks terrible this month. No matter what the reason, you never know when you will be looking for a job again.


Existing job

Once you have established yourself in your new position and are fairly satisfied, you can tone down the urgency of your job search. However, I would not stop searching entirely. You never know when an unbelievably great job is going to come along. If you are not at least keeping tabs on the job market and maintaining an active presence with your resume on the job boards, you will not even know that job was out there.

So, once you find out what your new job entails, update your resume and keep looking. You can afford to be very selective but you cannot afford to miss a great job. Who knows when Donald Trump might be looking for his next partner? If you’re not out there at least looking, you will miss that chance.

Scott Brown is the author of the Job Search Handbook (http://www.JobSearchHandbook.com). As editor of the HireSites.com weekly newsletter on job searching, Scott has written many articles on the subject. He wrote the Job Search Handbook to provide job seekers with a complete yet easy to use guide to finding a job effectively.