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Confidence Through Accomplishment - How to Feel Better About Your Job Search
By Michael K. Norris
JOB HUNTING: THE MOST UNWANTED JOB THERE IS
Looking for a job - when done right - is harder than anything you will be hired to do. There is absolutely no way around it. But it's one thing to dive into the business of networking and blasting off resumes for a week and another thing to do it for three months or more. When the hunt goes on for that span, it can mean the start of a downward spiral: There's no end to rejection letters - unlike your finances - and you begin to feel yourself grinding out a cover letter wondering: "Why bother? I'd be just as well off if I printed out my resume and flung it in the general direction of the company I'm applying to." I've thought that plenty of times - never actually did it.
When that mentality takes hold, you tend to hunt for a job slower, and your mental shape begins to crumble. If you don't act, it will be something recruiters and hiring managers will begin to notice. You know you need to boost your confidence if you have any chance of not just continuing the job search, but actually getting a job you want and staying in good mental shape.
GETTING BACK YOUR CONFIDENCE
The key to maintaining confidence - and getting confidence back - while job hunting is through accomplishment. Too many job hunters get so mired in the repetition of networking, applying, interviewing, and repeating the process that they forget they're actually making accomplishments. Put another way: when one feels the actions of one day have no bearing on the next, confidence drops.
This - aside from financial reasons - is why people seek a career in the first place; to feel they have accomplished "something." Job seekers have to be reminded that a rejection letter is an accomplishment. A contact that turned up empty is an accomplishment. A bad interview is an accomplishment. Everything that happens in a job search is another pantleg full of dirt from the prison escape tunnel, and while the digging is repetitive, the goal is inching closer.
Let's say you got a rejection letter from a job you applied to. Think back on your search, and ask yourself the following questions:
If you answered yes to all of the above questions, you can pat yourself on the back: Congratulations, you've been rejected and you don't need to take it personally. The market is competitive, and you simply weren't picked because someone else was. That rejection letter in your hand is progress and you should feel good about it; you're another foot further along in your tunnel to professional freedom.
Once you have changed the way you feel about rejection in your job search, you can rearrange your job-hunting tasks - even the repetitive ones - to be more meaningful. Here are a few ways to pull yourself back into the ring.
At the end of each day, you should feel good about yourself: you've accomplished a lot of things. You'll get more done tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that. You will not be out of work forever, and once you get a job, the frustration of being unemployed will quickly drop from your shoulders like the albatross in Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.
There are also plenty of things you can do to maintain confidence that aren't listed here; you know things you can do to keep your confidence and drive at the stratosphere. Whether it's spending time with your significant other, family, a certain quirky friend that always makes you laugh; pepper your schedule with these things not just to help your job search, but just on general principles.
Michael K. Norris is a freelance writer and researcher specializing in recruitment, career, and other issues. He can be reached at michael@norrisresearch.com.
Confidence Through Accomplishment - How to Feel Better About Your Job Search
By Michael K. Norris
JOB HUNTING: THE MOST UNWANTED JOB THERE IS
Looking for a job - when done right - is harder than anything you will be hired to do. There is absolutely no way around it. But it's one thing to dive into the business of networking and blasting off resumes for a week and another thing to do it for three months or more. When the hunt goes on for that span, it can mean the start of a downward spiral: There's no end to rejection letters - unlike your finances - and you begin to feel yourself grinding out a cover letter wondering: "Why bother? I'd be just as well off if I printed out my resume and flung it in the general direction of the company I'm applying to." I've thought that plenty of times - never actually did it.
When that mentality takes hold, you tend to hunt for a job slower, and your mental shape begins to crumble. If you don't act, it will be something recruiters and hiring managers will begin to notice. You know you need to boost your confidence if you have any chance of not just continuing the job search, but actually getting a job you want and staying in good mental shape.
GETTING BACK YOUR CONFIDENCE
The key to maintaining confidence - and getting confidence back - while job hunting is through accomplishment. Too many job hunters get so mired in the repetition of networking, applying, interviewing, and repeating the process that they forget they're actually making accomplishments. Put another way: when one feels the actions of one day have no bearing on the next, confidence drops.
This - aside from financial reasons - is why people seek a career in the first place; to feel they have accomplished "something." Job seekers have to be reminded that a rejection letter is an accomplishment. A contact that turned up empty is an accomplishment. A bad interview is an accomplishment. Everything that happens in a job search is another pantleg full of dirt from the prison escape tunnel, and while the digging is repetitive, the goal is inching closer.
Let's say you got a rejection letter from a job you applied to. Think back on your search, and ask yourself the following questions:
- Was my resume aimed for the job and in topnotch form?
- Was my cover letter tailored and concise?
- Did I have most - if not all - of the qualifications the organization was after?
- Did I provide a little more than what they asked (i.e.- four references instead of three, etc.)?
- Was I prepared and professional for the interview? (if you got that far)
If you answered yes to all of the above questions, you can pat yourself on the back: Congratulations, you've been rejected and you don't need to take it personally. The market is competitive, and you simply weren't picked because someone else was. That rejection letter in your hand is progress and you should feel good about it; you're another foot further along in your tunnel to professional freedom.
Once you have changed the way you feel about rejection in your job search, you can rearrange your job-hunting tasks - even the repetitive ones - to be more meaningful. Here are a few ways to pull yourself back into the ring.
- Maintain a Journal - "June 12: I take in the Jerry Springer show after a strenuous morning of reading classified ads…." Not that kind of journal. A simple three ring binder or spiral notebook will do - one with a built-in calendar is best. Put a date on the top of a new page, and make a list of phone calls you have to make that day, and the companies/jobs you've applied to. If you keep yourself organized, you probably won't feel lost or adrift. It's also good to keep the day broken into bite-sized chunks so nothing feels too monotonous. When you make your daily job hunting "to do" list, try to do a little more each day. Everything crossed off on your list is an accomplishment.
- Rejection Rules - Never throw a rejection later away. Keep a file of your rejection letters, and understand that the file may become thicker than George Costanza's wallet. Your goal is to be rejected as often as possible. If you're not being rejected at least every day, you're not making significant progress. And bear in mind that it happens to absolutely everyone. I've actually become so good at being rejected, I'm thinking of turning pro.
- Keep Yourself Busy - Make your daily and weekly 'to do' lists ambitious, but not overwhelming. If you're unemployed, it's vital to treat your job search like a full time job. Have your lunch breaks, coffee breaks, and personal phone calls, and try to make your daily lists a little longer each day. To hunt effectively, you must train as a marathon runner - sprinting for one day usually spells exhaustion for the next.
- Dig more than one tunnel at a time - This follows up perfectly to the 'keep yourself busy' bullet: Sending out resumes blindly or just answering classified adds is a mistake ONLY if that is all you are doing to get a job. Statistically, it's also the method that bears the least amount of success. Work your contacts via phone, email, and personal visits, stop into companies that interest you, go online, and answer the classifieds. If you pursue every channel there is, your chances of getting a job quicker go up drastically. If you get a promising lead, DO NOT STOP LOOKING OR SLOW YOUR SEARCH! Even if it looks like a certain job is in the bag, crank your search up a gear. There is nothing that can throw one's confidence down the drain faster than halting a search when you think an offer is imminent, only to have it collapse - and you've done nothing while waiting for the go-ahead that didn't come.
- Recognize there is NO SHAME in being unemployed - This bears repeating. When people ask what you do, don't hang your head in despair and mumble that you're out of work, hit him or her with a confident smile and tell them you're between jobs, and are aggressively searching for work in….fill in the blank….to be a….fill in the blank. Who knows: the next person you meet at a cocktail party or a backyard BBQ may be your most valuable contact. You should also make a point on your "to do" list to tell someone every day - if you can - that you're unemployed.
- Get some physical exercise - Hitting the gym or just finding some sort of workout routine can work wonders for your confidence level; as in your physical appearance. It can also help work out your aggressions and tensions about your job hunting journey. Try to eat well, too, particularly if you're spending time on the road searching for work.
At the end of each day, you should feel good about yourself: you've accomplished a lot of things. You'll get more done tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that. You will not be out of work forever, and once you get a job, the frustration of being unemployed will quickly drop from your shoulders like the albatross in Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.
There are also plenty of things you can do to maintain confidence that aren't listed here; you know things you can do to keep your confidence and drive at the stratosphere. Whether it's spending time with your significant other, family, a certain quirky friend that always makes you laugh; pepper your schedule with these things not just to help your job search, but just on general principles.
Michael K. Norris is a freelance writer and researcher specializing in recruitment, career, and other issues. He can be reached at michael@norrisresearch.com.