Let me address the elephant in the room that keeps so many brilliant professional women stuck in career limbo.
I regularly work with senior professional women through our executive career coaching for women programs who are either currently unemployed or unhappily employed and terrified to hand in their notice. Why? They believe unemployment reflects negatively on them. That hiring managers will see them as ‘less than’ or ‘damaged goods’.
My darling, let me give you the truth from years of women’s career negotiation advice: hiring managers are often delighted you’re available immediately. Think about it. No notice period, no awkward conversations with current bosses, no scheduling interviews around existing commitments.
But here’s the raw reality. There IS a real issue attached to being unemployed, and it’s not what you think.
The problem isn’t that unemployment looks bad on you. The problem is that desperation makes you settle for offers unworthy of your talents.
The Real Cost of Career Panic
When you’re panicking about being unemployed, you start accepting opportunities you would have rejected otherwise. You lower your standards, compromise on salary negotiation, take roles beneath your capabilities, all because you’re grateful someone wants you.
This is career suicide born from fear, not strategic career negotiation.
But it doesn’t need to be this way, my darling.
You can be unemployed and be spectacularly successful when you have the right mindset. When you’re working with a women’s negotiation coach who understands career advancement coaching for mid-to-senior level women.
A Case Study in Holding Your Standards
A beautiful illustration came from my client just last week. She accepted an exceptional offer as Managing Director (with a view to partnership) in private banking. The timeline? Six months between starting her search whilst unemployed and accepting this offer.
The crucial part? She rejected several opportunities in between, holding out for the best one.
Six months of saying no to ‘good enough’ so she could say yes to exceptional. Six months of maintaining her standards while strategically positioning her unemployment as an intentional career pause, telling employers she was taking time to carefully consider her next step and holding out for the right opportunity aligned with role co-creation principles.
And like I said, it paid off spectacularly.
This is what happens when you do the daily mindset work to stay committed to your standards. When you work with negotiation strategies for women that keep you believing in your potential, taking the right actions, getting these kinds of exceptional results.
Women in leadership understand this: your unemployment status doesn’t define your value. But your willingness to settle for less than you deserve absolutely could.
Your Next Move
So if you’re currently between roles, stop apologising for your availability and start leveraging it strategically.
The managing director role was worth the wait for my WOA client. Your dream opportunity will be too.
If you’re ready to negotiate your worth and approach your career transition with strategic intent rather than panic, our women’s career coaching program provides the frameworks and support executive women need to hold their standards and secure exceptional opportunities.
Because you don’t need another job, my darling. You need the right job. And that requires strategic career negotiation, not desperate acceptance.
