Following your intuition can be advisable in some situations of a job seeker but also very counterproductive in others. Here is a very good example of the latter.
A common pitfall of high performers
Successful employees with a proven track record of knowledge, skills, experience, and especially accomplishments are usually not concerned about their market value on the job market. They assume that the task of finding a great new position will not present itself as a problem to them whenever the wish or the need for it arises.
Once they become job seekers for real, however, their actual experience is often far from that assumption. After a few months, the anticipated great result is still nowhere in sight and the whole process is just dragging on and on.
At this stage, they become puzzled, frustrated, and not seldom depressed. There seems to be no good reason for their lack of success and without good feedback, adjusting their approach becomes taking potluck.
Not a few of them become disgruntled with the whole situation, losing more and more hope over time. Some then even start doubting their qualification and readiness for the positions they have aspired to so far and ask themselves if they shouldn’t better lower their expectations. The truth, however, is far from it.
Highly qualified for what?
High performers often intuitively believe that because they are very good at their profession, they are also equally well prepared to get a new position in their field. However, here lies a misconception. The fact that you know how to do your job does not automatically mean that you can also present those skills in a convincing manner in a job interview.
Moreover, before that, there are a lot of things you need to get right in order to get invited for an interview at all. Success in those prior phases requires a lot of self-marketing skills such as copywriting skills for creating a persuasive CV / résumé, research and networking skills to learn about vacancies, and organizational skills to keep track of all developments to name only a few. There are many more aspects to this process that can be decisive.
So, for getting a great new job, the important question is less if you are highly qualified for a particular profession but how qualified you are in terms of job seeking.
Now, as most people thankfully do not have to change jobs very often, they have not had a lot of opportunities to develop those job-hunting skills.
Recent graduates face the same problem
This typical pitfall is not limited to the situation of experienced workers. Recent graduates will face the same problem if they do not become aware in time that their studies have only prepared them for a particular kind of job but not for getting it.
What it means for your job search
Once you have understood this important difference, you should start by analyzing the current level of your skills as a job seeker.
Wherever you detect any shortcomings or uncertainties, use the many resources out there that have been created to get people like you up to speed in this situation. My extensive online guide “Ways to the Perfect Job” is there for you to accomplish it.