Believe it or not, it is all in your face.

1.   Desperate job seekers are always available: You really want to work for a company. The interview was terrific and yet the company hasn’t called in four days, so you’re a little bit worried that they aren’t as enthusiastic as you are. Holy smokes! The phone rings and they say, “Would you be interested in the position “------”?” (Something your really don’t want, have done in the past and hated it, and a position for which you are WAY over qualified). You respond: 
”YES. YES. YES. I WOULD BE DELIGHTED.” That’s what you’re thinking, but what does it say about you that you are willing to accept anything, even a job you would likely hate?

If you want to be completely honest with the caller you could say, “I am not desperate for just any job,” but a kinder, less aggressive way to respond to such a call is to say, “I’m not ready to accept something just to have a job for my knowledge, skills, and abilities would certainly not be challenged by the opportunity you propose. I would prefer to wait until a position equal to my qualifications becomes available.”

If you choose to answer and say, “Sure, I’d really like to work for your company.” it isn’t the end of the world. For the caller, however, it is impossible not to take note of your obvious desperateness and make you a ‘low ball’ offer of compensation/benefits. Moreover, you’re starting to establish the pattern of desperation.

2.   Desperate job seekers are clingy: It’s a basic human behavior. The things that we believe to be abundant get less attention. The things we believe to be scarce and valuable get lots of attention. It makes lots of sense in the jungle, but focusing your attention like a laser beam on a single potential employer can spell doom.

Desperate job seekers are scared that they are going to be rejected and so they simply do not apply. Without applying the result is rejection anyway; so the worst thing that can happen when you apply for a job has already happened if you don’t apply. Desperate job seekers believe there are many good candidates out there, and if they lose this opportunity…they will be crushed! So they hold on tightly. If they are lucky enough to get an interview, they ask a lot of prying questions. 

3.   Desperate job seekers need constant status updates: It’s not uncommon for a 5-year-old to climb into the car for a long trip and ask the driver 15 minutes later, “Are we there yet? How long will it take?” There are many grown men and women who act the same way with their employment prospects. These conversations can come over and over as the desperate job seeker seeks for some handle they can use to sooth their fear of rejection. “Have you made your decision yet? Are there other candidates? Are we ready to discuss terms of employment yet?”



Not sure of what’s going on, some employers will play along, trying to give the fearful applicant a sense of comfort and ease, for it is not easy to simply say “We found a more qualified candidate.” It sometimes works – for a while. More often the desperate party’s constant need for reassurance leaves the exhausted potential employer heading for the door.

4.   Desperate job seekers fish for compliments: Desperate job seekers need outside encouragement at every turn. They are so desperate to feel good about themselves that they become masters of creating compliments out of thin air. Self-deprecation is the most common tool. 
”Wow, I’ll bet you had a great number of applicants respond to your ad. Hopefully, I am one of the most qualified. Right?” For the less subtle set there’s the direct question, “What do you think of my qualifications?”… “Would you like more information about me?”… “I have copies of letters of reference, would you like them for your file?” 
The company representative will always answer in the affirmative – for they certainly don’t want the applicant to feel crushed while still in their office – they can always trash the additional information when you leave. 
This brand of desperation is simply exhausting. Lest you think you can say enough kind things to eventually create a self-assured person, beware. True desperation is a tough hole to patch.

5.   Desperate job seekers rationalize bad treatment: If you are treated rudely at the interview, it was because the interviewer was really, really, really busy, Right? When you are desperate for a job you’ll often take a lot of gruff. In fact, you often don’t even notice the poor treatment because acknowledging that you’re being treated badly is the first step down the road to understanding that you are just not going to get the job. 

If you’ve ever made excuses to your friends for the way your significant other treats you, it’s time to take a long hard look at your relationship and priorities. Are you so desperate to have a job that you’ll allow a potential employer to treat you like an old shoe?

In summary, if we imagine a person who is the opposite of the one described above we have someone who is:

·         Confident in his/her abilities and can refuse an opportunity that isn’t a close match;

·         Not Clingy — comfortable enough to let the interview end naturally and not try to oversell during the interview;

·         Comfortable without constant status updates – likes to let things progress naturally.

·         Secure without artificial compliments.

·         Continuing to maintain reasonable standards for their job.

·         Not going to tolerate poor treatment, ever.

The irony is that while the person we’ve just described seems like a harder person to hire – higher standards, more rules, less available – they are infinitely more likely to end up in a great job than the poor desperate soul who is willing to do double-back flips just to be employed. 

Source: CP