Realising success can be fickle

If I just try a little bit harder THEN I’ll succeed. If I improve myself and my performance, I’ll do better. This is what I tell myself a lot of the time, and it’s a nice thing to think. It’s a shame that it’s not always true.

I’ve always liked to pretend that chance doesn’t play a part in the world. I’ve always thought that things like academic performance, employment, and competitions were perfect reflections of individual’s abilities.

With experience I’ve realised that the world is a random place. Sometimes I get better results than I should, and sometimes I get worse results than I should. The athlete with the fastest trial run doesn’t always win the race, the most qualified person doesn’t always get the job, the smartest person in a course doesn’t always get the best grade.

When I apply for a job and there’s a few thousand other applicants with essentially identical expertise, a large part of that has to come down to being lucky in getting through the process. Who’s application is read first? What mood was the person reading it in? Random little things that impact the outcome.

I’ve started to think about things like applying for a job as a kind of card game or board game. You can be the best player in the world, and still get a series of really unlikely cards or rolls. All you can do is give yourself the best chance of success by being prepared and engaged. You may not end up winning, but you have to just keep on rolling the dice.

For more information, tips and ideas to increase employability and find opportunities, please visit the Career Service.