At times, I’ve come across the person who says he wants to find work without anyone’s help; this is prideful and also impossible.  If this is you, repent of your foolishness.

Over the years, I have counseled many people in their search for employment; some fresh out of school, some later in life, entering paid employment, and some who had left or lost jobs one way or another.  Because I have recently been involved in a number of conversations on this subject, I thought it a good idea to set forth 9.5 principles to follow in a job search, from a Christian perspective.

1. Pray – This is essential; you want God’s wisdom and blessing in your search.  You aren’t praying for a six figure salary and a Lexus to drive to and from work, but for the job the Lord has for you at this particular time in your life.  Go into your search, open to His will; not with your list of what He has to do to fulfill your desires and make you happy.

2. Work eight hours a day, looking for a job – Your job is to find a job.  Other people are working a minimum of 40 hours a week, so why shouldn’t you?  During this forty hours, you are visiting offices, personally delivering your resume, emailing resumes, studying particular jobs so as to rewrite resumes to fit them, studying the job market, analyzing your abilities and aptitude; whatever is job related, you are doing.  If you are fresh out of school and staying at home, mowing the grass and washing dishes for the family doesn’t count as your forty hours; Mom and Dad do this stuff in addition to their work schedules, so you can, too.

3. Make personal contact with employers as much as possible – For all the blessings we enjoy in our high tech times, preoccupation with technology has contributed to our living less personal lives.  Social media has not made us more social; it’s made us more married to our gadgetry.  Some job hunting college graduates think that all they are supposed to do is email resumes one after another.  Sooner or later, you need to realize that life is about relationships and personal interaction; the sooner you develop these skills, the better.  Besides meeting qualifications for a position, employers want to see your eagerness to work, creativity in getting them to consider you, persistence to get an interview, etc.  They also want to see someone who is dressed well and doesn’t need a haircut or bath.

4. Network, network, network – Who do you know?  Make a list of everyone you know, and after you have finished, add the names of those you missed.  Relatives, alumni, friends, church members, those related to these people you know, who may know someone.  God has providentially given you these contacts, so use them.  Ask people for help.  I know a lot of people, and I know people who know a lot of people, but I find job searchers all around us who never ask for help.  This is not Christian; we are supposed to help each other.  At times, I’ve come across the person who says he wants to find work without anyone’s help; this is prideful and also impossible.  If this is you, repent of your foolishness.

5. Use established job placement means and helps – Use what is where you are, such as, temp agencies, companies who recruit for employers, go to job fairs, attend groups that meet regularly to help members find employment.

6. Work a part time job.  Work two part time jobs.  Work three part time jobs. –   Part time can become full time, can connect to full time, that can become big time.  How will you manage to do this?  One part time job might only be ten hours a week.  God calls you to work; remember?  Thirty minutes of emailing resumes, and then goofing off the rest of the day, is not His will.

7.  Work for free – That’s right, work for free.  People used to do this to learn a trade.  Working for free may indicate to an employer that you are serious, responsible, resourceful,  instead of foolish, like your friends may think.  Actually, it isn’t entirely for free, because you are gaining valuable experience, maybe a job, and honoring God by working.

8  Work a job you don’t like – Maybe you’ve heard the beauty pageant contestant say that you can do whatever you want in life if you only believe; well, she was wrong.  In life, there are diapers to change, toilets to clean, work to do that isn’t pleasant.  You may have to do some unpleasant work before you get a job that might make you happy most of the time.  Use the unpleasant job to learn contentment, discipline, and other good things God may teach you.

9.  Quit feeling sorry for yourself – We don’t want to hear it, and most of us have been there before.  No, it isn’t fun; it can be downright scary, as many of us know; but Christ promises to take care of our needs if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.  Address your discouragement with whatever means God has given you, such as, scripture or Christian friends.  Go ahead and have a good cry if you want; but as Christians, this is not where we live; you have got to move on.

9.5  A word to parents – With your children fresh out of high school or college, are you running a bed and breakfast, or are you showing tough love to your children?  Okay, give them a week after graduation to rest up, but then it is down to business with the first nine things above.  Don’t put up with their whining, excuses, and resolutions.  It’s time for your children to grow up, if they haven’t already; and you are doing them a disservice to indulge their irresponsible and lazy behavior, if they aren’t actively doing these or similar things.

Pete Hurst is Senior Pastor at Calvary Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA), Hampton, VA and blogs at God’s Fool, where this article first appeared.  It is used with his permission. 

[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]