In yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe, an artist was quoted as saying along the lines of, “In business, time is money; for an artist, money is time [to work on their art].” In many ways the job search can be about time, too. How much money do you have to allow you to look for that perfect job? How are you going to use the hours of the workday to find that job? And, more fundamentally, what would you like to accomplish in the remaining hours/days/years of your life so that you’ll feel good about your career? It’s why, when we do a SWOT Analysis for the Job Seeker, the MPN Way, we substitute the concept of “Time” for “Threats”. Of course, you need to take a fresh look at your Strengths particularly in terms of how valuable they are to a hiring manager; and you need to assess directly and honestly your Weaknesses so that you can adjust your goals and your style of job searching. These can help you sort through the multiple Opportunities out there just waiting for you to take advantage of them. But if you don’t have an acute awareness of what you want/need/are called to do with your time, your search will be just that: a constant searching about for the next position, the next salary grade up the ladder, rather than a journey like the one that Katie P. took that ended up with her developing a fertile network and experiencing true personal growth. It is a major theme of the video “Lemonade” that I referenced in a previous post. Isn’t it about time you made the best use of your time?