# The Application By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-10-14 One must determine what to focus on and why when applying for opportunities. Understanding what one is attempting to communicate is essential to this task. Like Walt Whitman, most people contain multitudes. There are any number of things upon which one could focus. Different opportunities require one to activate different abilities. One thing for the applicant to figure out is “who” one wants to be at work and “what” one wants to be doing. That one could do something doesn’t mean one will enjoy it. This situation is not unlike a slot machine. The wheels spin, and different items are observable when it stops spinning. Having the right items in the right sequence is necessary to hit the jackpot. There is often a degree of randomness to this. People who could do the work are excluded from being interviewed, whereas people who can’t or won’t do the work land an interview. In the middle of these extremes, many capable people have been identified as those who can do the work. From this point, one will need to make many choices about how to present oneself effectively. What one wears, what one discusses, how one responds, what one eats, and a host of many other small and seemingly insignificant decisions will influence if an offer is made. All the applicant can do is determine what one wishes to communicate and appreciate that every aspect of what one does is being assessed. #### Related Items [[Work]] [[Focus]] [[Interviewing]] [[Purpose]] [[Strategy]]