Could you hear yourself saying….?

“Sir, my goal is to succeed. I plan to do that by working hard to provide value and service to our clients and my co-workers. I will fall and stumble at times, however I am determined to use these opportunities to learn and improve myself. I would be honored to work with your firm and hope I am blessed with the opportunity.”

Does reading this make you a little sick? Are you saying to yourself, no way I could say something like that? A lot of people moving into the workforce I have been exposed to do have that attitude. Instead, the thought has been, “If they want me they will come and get me or offer me a job when they meet me”. Well, that may be the way it works, but the reality is it is possible to talk your way in to a job of interest.

A person, especially a recent grad or one new in their career presenting themselves this way will get the attention of a hiring authority or a large company and particularly the owner of a small to medium sized company. Why? The attitude and desire of the talent is everything to a company hiring. Find someone willing who is honest, hardworking and wants to improve themselves in order to get ahead and a number of skills needed for the job can be learned. In fact, many companies may find that attitude is more important than one having the specific skills needed, combined with a questionable attitude.

• Attitude matters
• Present yourself as optimistic and positive
• Show you are willing to learn and improve
• Smile – everyone likes to work with happy people

Want that special job? Talk yourself into it with the right words and attitude.

One last point to make, this strategy can’t be faked for long – you have to live it.

How To Talk Your Way Into The Job You Want is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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As I point out in “’Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever!,” there are all new “rules” in today’s hiring “game”—and that’s precisely how you must look at getting hired in today’s job market, as a “game”—and what may have worked, say, just a few years ago to land a new job no longer works, in many cases.

The major thesis in “‘Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets,” of course, is that the “rules” of the “hiring game” have changed . . . Forever! In the book I examine the entire job market and the many new rules that are operative in it. Then, I share hundreds of “secrets” that I have successfully used for nearly a decade to effectively work around these new rules and help hundreds of job candidates land their dream jobs—even during the Great Recession. The intent of the book was (and is!) to show job seekers whom I can’t personally help how they can, in effect, become their own “headhunters.” In this blog, I am going to examine five new rules that are quite common in today’s job market and then show you how you can effectively work around them to get where you want to go—to land your dream job in 2012!

New ‘rule’ #1 – The hiring process is designed to exclude you as a candidate

This is one of the best-kept, least-understood and most under-appreciated aspects of the job hunting process today. Contrary to what you—and the overwhelming majority of other job seekers—quite probably think and believe, companies are not looking for reasons to hire you! The truth of the matter is, hiring companies today are looking for reasons not to hire you, i.e., for reasons to exclude you from the candidate pool!

Maybe they decide they don’t like the look of your résumé. They might categorize you as a “job hopper.” Or, maybe they call you up and, if you don’t have a professional greeting on your voice mail, they simply assume that you probably aren’t all that professional, either. Or perhaps they don’t like what they see/read about you on your Facebook® page.

Why do hiring managers and the companies they represent treat today’s job candidates in such an arbitrary, capricious manner? The short answer? Because they can! With literally hundreds, and sometimes even thousands, of candidates for virtually any open positions in today’s job market, besieged hiring managers usually have one principal goal in mind: To winnow the number of candidates down to a manageable number as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Unfair? You bet! Still, that’s the way the hiring game is played today, and if you are going to “play” in this game, then you had first better learn how not to lose.

“Headhunter” Hiring Secret: If you are losing on offense in a game, oftentimes upping your defensive game can turn the tide, and that certainly can be a winning strategy in the hiring game. While your competitors, i.e., other job seekers, are making the same mistakes over and over again, make sure you are not making these mistakes. After all, that’s what the whole personal branding concept is all about, isn’t it? Making sure that, in comparison to other candidates, you appear to be flawless, or at least virtually flawless. And it’s really all in the details. Here are just a few areas to concentrate on during your job search:

• While others may not even think about the importance of having a professional voice mail greeting, make sure you do!
• Make sure you know the importance of using an email address that actually works with today’s computer-read screening software systems.
• Make sure you format your résumé in such a way that it invites being read, not challenges a hiring manager to “plow” through it.
• Learn how to properly construct your LinkedIn® profile, your Facebook® page.
• Ensure that all written communications involved in your job search are error-free!

New ‘rule’ #2 – HR is the new ‘black hole’

Human Resources was one of the hardest hit employee groups during the Great Recession. (“Hey, we are not hiring so why do we need all of these HR folks?!”) As a result, and as hiring is once again picking up, HR simply can’t handle the increased volume of candidates until they themselves increase their own numbers. Thus, more often than not, a résumé submitted to a company’s job opening actually has little chance of being reviewed by a real, live person. (In the recruiting industry, HR these days is referred to as “the new black hole.”) Generally, a computer scans the résumé looking for key words. If the right words are there, you may get a call. If not, you are excluded (see “Rule #1”)—even though you may actually be the best candidate! Humans can overlay judgment on your résumé, computers can’t. But seldom anymore does a human being ever lay eyes on a résumé submitted online.

“Headhunter” Hiring Secret: There are powerful ways to brand yourself as unique and get around the online application process. Companies want you to believe that the only way to get hired is to apply to their positions online. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Here is what you should do:

• Go ahead and apply online, in order to play the HR game. Then, go around the HR process and position yourself, in parallel, directly with the hiring manager, by launching a direct mail campaign (click on this link to learn more). Today, this single tactic is one of the strongest in a job hunter’s arsenal during the job hunt.

New ‘rule’ #3 – Some online job postings aren’t all they appear to be

Generally, the job descriptions you read online are only half the story, and many times, not even the most important half of the story. Hiring managers themselves almost always know precisely what they are looking for in a candidate. But sometimes, when this information is communicated to Human Resources, something gets “lost” in the “translation” when a job description is prepared. You, as a potential candidate, read the job description and think, “Hey, I fit that. I am the perfect candidate.” And indeed you may, at least ostensibly! You might even get an interview by HR, but then you could just as easily end up not being the successful candidate and never really know why! It could be something as ridiculously simple as your not ever having been made aware of “the three things” (requested by the hiring manager) on the interviewer’s checklist. Why? Because these “three things” were never communicated to potential candidates or included in the online posting!

“Headhunter” Hiring Secret: Network inside the hiring company to learn what makes both the company and the hiring manager “tick.” Learn what the “hidden criteria” may be for any given job—before submitting an application for a position. (Click here to learn more about the approach to take to accomplish this.)

New ‘rule’ #4 – The interview ‘process’ is seldom a process

Candidates invited in for interviews are oftentimes subjected to interviewers who are ill prepared for the interview. Off-the-wall, irrelevant questions are asked, or virtually the same question (or type of question) is asked over and over again. And just when you think things went well, you are invited back for yet another round of interviews. (As a “headhunter,” I call this “death by interview.”) Unfortunately, even among some of the “best” companies in the world, the overall corporate interview process is, more often than not, considerably more whimsical and directionless than it is scientific and integrated.

“Headhunter” Hiring Secret: By learning to use the technique I have dubbed “leading the witness,” you can literally take control of the interview—without becoming overbearing or boorish. (Click here to learn more about this technique.)

New ‘rule’ #5 – Cast ‘shadows on the wall’ and, again, you’re excluded!

If you have ever watched any type of criminal TV show or movie (and who hasn’t?!), you are undoubtedly quite familiar with the so-called Miranda warning read to alleged wrongdoers: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you. . . .” All too often candidates, in the spirit of wanting to be completely open and honest, share way too much information during a job interview. While I certainly don’t advocate lying or being dishonest, I do strongly advise against “baring your soul” during an interview. If you do this, you could easily end up casting “shadows” of the interviewer’s/hiring manager’s office wall. These “shadows” consist of mentioning anything that could cause the interviewer’s/hiring manager’s “antenna” to suddenly perk up. Let me give you an example of how this can work (true story, by the way).

A hiring manager interviewing one of my firm’s candidates remarked, as he rubbed his shoulder, “Boy, I need to get some surgery done on this shoulder. It continues to bother me.” The candidate himself had a bad knee, and in trying to relate as well as be empathetic, responded, “Yes, I know what you mean. One of these days I need some knee surgery too.” Needless to say, the candidate wasn’t hired. The candidate cast a “shadow on the wall.” The hiring manager later told me over the phone that he had several concerns: “How long will he be out if he does indeed have surgery?” “What other medical issues does this person possibly have?” “How much money will he end up costing the company?”

“Headhunter” Hiring Secret: First, be aware of the necessity for avoiding casting “shadows on the wall” during interviews! (Many, if not most, job seekers are not!) Then, take any steps necessary not to cast “shadow on the wall” by anticipating questions you may be asked during an interview and by practicing “safe” answers to such questions. Unfortunately perhaps, rarely in today’s job market is it the best candidate who is ultimately hired for the job. Usually, it is the safest candidate!

Study after study indicates that many currently employed people are looking to make a job change as the market improves. That means the competitive playing field will become even larger and more challenging than it is today. So, if you intend to be among those landing their dream jobs this year, it is even more vitally important that you strongly brand yourself as being different from and better than the “average” job seeker. Learning the new “rules” of the hiring “game,” and then using “secrets” such as I’ve suggested in this blog to work around and/or within the confines of these new rules will certainly get you headed in the right direction. Guaranteed. – Originally posted on the Personal Branding Blog by Skip Freeman

5 ‘Rules’ You Must Learn To Get Hired Today is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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The majority of FINS readers report that they’d be apt to take a job that mixed family with business, or one that could require them to deal with someone else’s family issues on the job.

In FINS’ informal online survey, Sign or Decline, 81% of 748 respondents said they’d accept their dream job if their new boss would be the chief executive’s daughter. Only 57% of 725 respondents said they’d take it if their boss would be their brother or sister.

Family-owned businesses are far from uncommon. According to the Family Firm Institute, 80% to 90% of businesses in the United States were family firms in 2003, and they contributed 64% of the national GDP and employed 62% of Americans. A 2010 study published in the Journal of Labor Economics found that 40% of young men have at some point worked for a company their father also worked for.

Jayne Mattson, senior vice president of client services with Boston career consultancy Keystone Associates, says she’s not surprised that people would be willing to take a job under the CEO’s child, but cautions that candidates do their due diligence – twice – to make sure it’s really the dream opportunity they’re looking for.

Why twice? Having a thorough understanding of your new supervisor’s management style is important to investigate with any job offer, but when working for the CEO’s daughter (or son), you need to also understand the relationship he or she has with their parent in the office, Mattson says.

If that relationship isn’t professional, you may be subject to the same whims of the parent that the child goes through. When Dad throws a temper tantrum, it will filter down to you. If the family makes decisions based on who they like or don’t like, your performance on the job may be irrelevant to getting better pay or promotions, Mattson says.

When considering working with one of your own kin, however, Mattson says the lines can get blurry fast. “Reporting to a family member is so tricky simply because of the fact that they’re family,” she says. “They know a lot about you, perhaps to an extent that you wouldn’t really want an employer to know.”

It’s also important, again, to not rush into this type of situation without weighing all of the pros and cons. “Part of it is the job itself, but you have to like who you work for as well,” says Mattson. “You need to make sure this person has a leadership style you would work well with.”

She also advises you recall that, family ties or not, businesses encounter problems. “Your brother or sister might make a business decision that you disagree with, for example,” she says, “or worse, they might have to fire you, or lay you off because of a restructuring of the organization.” Being related to you won’t eliminate pressure coming from the top tiers of management or the company’s shareholders if something goes awry.

Also consider how your relationship with a family member in business will be viewed by unrelated colleagues. Do you really want to go through your career defending your achievements and accomplishments against complaints of nepotism? Mattson says this can become an overwhelming burden.

Overall, Mattson says she agrees with FINS readers. “Most people would rightly be less apt to work for a family member than they would be to work for the CEO’s child,” she says. In both situations, clear boundaries and a measurable performance-tracking system need to be in place. “You might suggest a six-month review,” Mattson says. “That way, you can have verification that things are going smoothly and that this relationship is working.” – Originally posted on the Wall Street Journal by Kelly Eggers

The Ups & Downs Of Working With The Family Firm is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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If that sounds like a lot of hard work and dedication, it certainly is.

“They need to be mentally prepared and physically prepared,” said Susanne Goldstein, author of Carry A Paintbrush: How To Be the Artistic Director Of Your Own Career. Her career has moved from filmmaker to consultant to web designer to her current efforts as a business strategist and career coach to “help people and businesses survive and thrive.”

Her central message sounds simple, almost magical: Bring along an imaginary bucket and paintbrush, so when you see an opportunity, you paint a doorway.

“Create an opportunity for something lucky to happen,” she says.

She did this herself years ago as a student when she wanted to break into London’s West End theaters – and knew no one who could help or introduce her to decision makers. In Carry a Paintbrush, she tells of how she spent two weeks waiting in a theater lobby, all day, fetching tea for receptionists and being patient and persistent. She read cast and crew bios from playbills and made it clear she really wanted to work there.

Finally, she got to speak to someone, and was hired as an assistant production manager. She had “painted a door” or created an opportunity for luck to happen.

When successful people say they’ve been lucky, in truth a lot of hard work lies behind that luck, Goldstein said. “It’s just the payoff of all that hard work,” she said, adding that she doesn’t believe in luck, except for playing the lottery. She does believe in jumping in, and jogging a mile as a first step toward plenty of preparation for your career marathon.

Instead of counting on chance, have a can-do attitude and be opportunistic and act boldly to take advantage of possibilities that turn up, said Steve Tobak, writing in a BNET post on traits of successful people.

Here’s some other suggestions from Goldstein on making your own luck:

Be Likable. “If they think you’re wonderful, they’ll invest in you,” she said. Even if they cannot hire you, they’ll introduce you to someone else who may.

Solve Their Pain. Goldstein calls this “being the aspirin” or the solution to the hiring manager’s problem or pain. “It’s all about them and their needs,” she said.

Be Prepared. “Prepare ten times smarter than anyone else,” she writes in Carry a Paintbrush.  Know how you’ll answer the tough questions. Know the background of the key decision-makers so when one calls you on a Friday afternoon to see if you’re interested in a temp job, you already know what they’re working on and how they view success.

Networking by 5s. This technique involves asking one person who likes you to suggest five people in their field who will meet with you for five minutes.  Then ask each of those for five others.  When you meet with each one, you ignore your need for a job and learn from the person. Pretty soon someone will know someone who’s hiring – and it will be your lucky day.

Land A Job: Tips To Make Your Own Luck is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Your dream job as a child could make a comeback in your 40s or 50s – if you really want it to.

Almost six in ten people in a Monster.com poll say they still think about their childhood dream job every day. Especially when the economy is dicey and jobs difficult to come by, you need something to feed your passions and reinvigorate your enthusiasm for working.

“When things are tough we have to think outside the book, consider new ways we can succeed,” said Charles Purdy, Monster.com’s senior editor. “Difficult economic times may spur you to change careers, or it may increase your creative thinking which could lead to some related job.”

If you’re still daydreaming about a very different career as you handle the minutiae of a good, steady job, you don’t have to leave the job you currently have to start seeking out the ideal. In fact, we have five small steps to get you started toward your dream job:           

Incorporate Elements Into Today’s Job.  Bring a few strands of your dream job into your day job – even if it means selling your boss on add-ons. When he was a teen, Purdy’s dream job was actor. “I’m not in it, but a lot of the stuff I do for Monster involves an element of performance,” he said, whether for a media interview or a client presentation.

Start A Hobby That Relates To Your Dream.  You may never rival Madonna in making music, but you could start a band that plays at your local pub on Thursday nights. Instead of working for NASA, you could serve as the coordinator of the scientists and astronomers club at your child’s middle school. You may not be able to own an antique shop, but you could start collecting century-old pieces and displaying them in your home.

Take Some Classes, Go To A Conference.  Take a YMCA or community college class. Find a weekend seminar or conference that relates to your dream career or field. If money is tight, volunteer to check people in or help out during part of the event. “Learn things about your passion,” said Purdy. Along the way, you’ll meet some professionals and start a network that could be helpful to you – and vice versa.

Talk To Someone Who Holds Your Dream Job. These informational interviews or job shadows can be useful to give you ideas whether your chosen career really is a good fit. You also may learn about some related job or support job that is easier to obtain when you go meet the professional hockey player. So you may not pass the puck, but you could run the team’s social media efforts or serve on their corporate advisory board.

Play Up Your Passions.  Use your new hobby or side business or classes to make yourself a well-rounded individual – someone who is “dynamic and active and energetic,” said Purdy. You may even want to create two resumes – one that plays it straight and one that shows your volunteer and other work on the dream career. Some people will find you more interesting and impressive for your parts in community theater or your work with a cause or organization, he said.

“We can’t all be musicians or astronauts,” said Purdy. But we all can find volunteer work or projects that give some of the thrills those jobs might generate.

5 Tips To Securing Your Dream Job is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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It is not useful to share these notions with the landlord or other creditors.

For most of us, the idea of having a job that finely integrates our skills, talents, curiosities and self-concept is just that, an idea. We go to work and try to move things in the direction of our dreams. It’s our job to make the work meaningful.

It can be slow going.

Whether you are a seasoned real estate professional displaced by the downturn, an old school media employee faced with the reality of the web, a union worker in Detroit or a soon to be recent college graduate, the problem is the same.

How do you bring passion and enthusiasm to the job you have when it is not the job you want? How do you make your job meaningful and what do you do if you can’t.

Here are some starting points:

• Decide to be happy. Abraham Lincoln famously said, “People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” It really is possible to simply decide to be happy. Try imagining a time when you were really happy. Hold the memory for a minute or so and notice how it feels. Do this when your spirits sag.
• Remember that feelings are just information. There is no fundamental relationship between how you feel and the way the world is. Disappointment, anger, sadness, happiness and joy are all choices. They are all forms of feedback.
• Have a plan. Nothing improves the way things seem than knowing how you are going to change them. The tiniest plan to change jobs, plant a garden, read a book, rearrange the furniture, or modify your work style will have cascading effects in your life.
• Begin now. Goethe is credited with saying, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

Work, particularly work you really don’t want to do, has an intrinsic worth. Sometimes, in the doing of a thing, your body and soul learn things that are not easily talked about. Wisdom, insight and understanding are the products of repetition. Even the most awful of jobs can produce these.

How To Want The Job You Get is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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And who could blame us for thinking such a thing? We are constantly told through advertisements, TV shows and various other images all around us what we need to do to be satisfied. Show us enough of what life should be and we begin to believe we can’t get no….you get my drift.

The same can be said for our work. We are told to find the right job, our passion and to pursue a career that leaves us feeling satisfied. But perhaps work is just work – we get out of it what we put in, no matter the depth of our passion or preparedness. Dell’s Michel Dell, Apple’s Steve Jobs, and Microsoft’s Bill Gates left school to pursue their passions and it appears they have found some amount of satisfaction. We can’t all be like these three in terms of financial success (no problem with trying) but like life, if we began to think we can’t be satisfied unless we have success as defined by the world, we may be setting ourselves up for a ‘can’t get no’ satisfaction experience.

But all is not lost. There are some simple ways to make your work life satisfying:

• Focus: Learn to concentrate
• Prepare: Don’t procrastinate, get ready early
• Strive to be the best: At whatever you do. Find satisfaction in any job well done
• Smile: Infects you and those around you
• Keep life in perspective: A saying from my hometown is West Texas, “if it wasn’t for down, there wouldn’t be up”. Life is life and for any tough times, there will be good.

I guess when it comes down to it, we are responsible for our satisfaction at work and in life. So, if you can’t get no….satisfaction at work, take a look in the mirror, smile and go back to work focus on doing a great job. What you think you’ve missed is likely just around the corner.

How Realistic Are You About Getting A Dream Job And Finding Your Passion? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Over the past 20 years we have grown our economy by buying stuff we don’t need with money we don’t have from companies we don’t like. We bought cheap clothes at warehouse stores while bemoaning the loss of textile jobs in the south and Wal-Mart’s labor practices. We grabbed the latest deal on electronics at the local Best Buy while feeling robbed of solid high-tech jobs that were being shipped overseas. And many of us (me included) have participated in cost-cutting exercises at work only to feel a nervous shiver through our spine when we think about our children’s future.

As consumers we have demanded that things be cheaper, faster, better and more accessible. But as employees we are experiencing first-hand the consequences of those demands. It is what might be called a “total bummer”: Can’t I buy what is cheap, available and makes me feel good and forget all the other stuff?

Yes, we can do that. And then we can watch our jobs go overseas. When that happens the key question we have to ask ourselves is “What jobs will stay here?” Fortunately there is plenty of opportunity for hope. We are still the most creative and innovative country on earth. The world still looks to us to define cultural and technical trends. Our iPods may be made in China, but they are designed in the U.S.

But being a part of the team that designs the next iPod, or comes up with a new internet solution, or thinks of a better way to create clean energy requires something different of us as job seekers and talent – We have to be willing to change the way we think about work.

Finding work with meaning, doing what you love, bringing fun to work and being comfortable, or even taking advantage of ambiguity and unexpected change are all critical parts of being successful in this century. They are not HR flights of fancy. In fact, I feel confident in guaranteeing that if you can’t answer what your dream job is, if you don’t know what gets you up in the morning, and if you don’t know what makes your work fun and enjoyable that your career is at risk.

Have We Been Putting Our Careers At Risk Since The Recession Hit? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Passion is a choice. If you’re wandering around trying to figure out how to find your real true passion, take a break. Sit down. Your passion is not out in the world, it’s somewhere inside of you. Look all you want. When you are finally ready to feel the fires of passion burning in your heart, follow these simple guidelines.

Passion is a decision for most of us. While it would be wonderful and miraculous to wake up one day and know exactly what you want and where you are going, it’s probably not going to happen. Your passion is a fire that you have to build for yourself, in yourself.

Personality tests, self assessment, vocational aptitude instruments and a good conversation with your local minister or bartender are all good ways to collect insight into what you might do. But, when all of the data is in, all the advice received and all of the insight understood, you remain faced with the choice.

Build your passion just as you’d build a fire.

1. Gather the wood. Set aside a place and time to build and reinforce your passion. Building and maintaining passion requires that you have the necessary resources collected (enough wood for the fire, so to speak). Having a regular time each day in which to consider and refine your dream is important. 15 Minutes in the morning or at the end of the day is sufficient. Have inspirational literature, good books, writing materials and a comfortable place to sit. Write down your dream. Each day refine some portion of it. Each day, review your dream and improve on it in some small way. The clearer you can see it the likelier it is to happen. Manufacture passion, don’t wait around for it.

2. Use kindling to get the fire started. Passion is not an intellectual thing. It is critical to think carefully about your dream and build it into something bigger each day. But, passion means action. Start with tiny things that are easy to like. Sing a song, take a walk; do something that you like just because it exercises your “I like stuff” muscles. In some small way, do the thing that you dream about. Make a point of being able to go to bed each day knowing that you did at least one thing to move you towards your dream. You will hit patches of the road where it takes the depths of your commitment to find the one small thing. That’s where you start to really learn that passion is a decision. You do it even when you don’t feel like it.

3. Add bigger things as the fire starts growing. Momentum takes a while. Think about how small a snowball can be before you roll one big enough to be the base of a snowman. As you gain your footing in the process of manufacturing your dream, you’ll find opportunities to try big things. Try them. There’s nothing that says you have to be successful in every single venture. The idea is to get the fire so hot that it doesn’t mind an occasional wet log. Keep tending the fire.

4. Sharpen sticks and roast the marshmallows. You’ve made the decision. You’ve built the fire. Sharpen the sticks and use the fire for something fun. Once it is stable, your passion can hold the dreams and aspirations of others. It’s not terribly surprising that the people who are great at deciding to have their own passion are our leaders. You know the ones. Dreaming your dream and manufacturing your own passion is how you get on that track.

It’s really normal to get suck in the process at any of the steps. The key to developing and sustaining momentum is to understand that it won’t always feel great. Sometimes, you just push it through. Passion is the decision that matters in those times.

Dream Your Job: Choosing Your Passion in Four Simple Steps is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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The numbers mean that one in five people have been disrupted. The old way of making a living is gone and it’s time to find a new thing. While it may be that the big picture involves seismic economic shifts, when they happen in your backyard, it’s demoralizing and debilitating.

What does it mean that another 500,000 people gave up on the prospect of looking for work?

Mostly, it means that not having a job is frightening. The economic consequences of job loss include credit, relationship and self-esteem damage. The job is the primary source of personal identity in our culture. Having to figure out who you are each day is really hard work. Changing jobs makes it harder still.

Any job change involves facing your fears.

Last week, we talked about making a list of your worst career mistakes as a way of coming to terms with one kind of fear: that your job hunt will end up as a failure because of your past. Understanding that most of us lead lives with less than extraordinary job accomplishments is key to putting that particular anxiety to bed.

The other uncertainties and ambiguities of career change are not so easy to combat directly. Feelings of worthlessness, self-pity, lethargy, situational depression, even terror are an integral part of big changes for most of us. People who don’t experience these forms of fear are often sociopaths. In other words, these feelings are normal.

It’s also normal to let these feelings overwhelm and paralyze you. Many job hunt counselors suggest that you can’t really be effective in a job hunt for 90 days after you lost your job. The real question isn’t whether they will creep up but what to do when they do.

Fear is a normal part of learning and accomplishment. Almost any definition of courage alludes to the fact that being courageous means getting stuff done when you’re afraid. Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s the willingness to keep moving in spite of the fear.

When fears, uncertainties and ambiguities are unfamiliar, they can seem larger. So, the best recipe for success involves creating a context in which the fears become more familiar. Looking for work requires the development of routines and patterns that you may not have in place. By establishing your own order and predictability, you can make friends with your fears and harness them.

Here are ten things you can do to create a routine that will harness your anxieties:

1. Morning Routine: Wake up at the same time each morning, weekends included. Do the same three things in the same order each day. Brush your teeth, take a shower get dressed. Have coffee, plan the day, take a shower. It doesn’t matter what. Pick three and repeat.
2. First Call of The Day: Always make a call to a friend at the same time each day. Make it the first work thing that you do. Talk about the weather, the family or your job hunt. Make friendship a high priority.
3. Bedtime Ritual: Take 30 minutes to get ready for bed. Do the same things in the same order. Go to bed early enough to get eight hours (no more). Do things that help you unwind so that when you hit the pillow, you are ready to sleep.
4. Good Night’s Sleep: Getting a good night’s sleep is key to being an effective job hunter. Make your bed an oasis. Make the rule that you don’t look for work when you’re in bed. If you wish to worry, get out of bed, write the worries down and then get back to sleep.
5. Log Your Work: Looking for work involves chasing wild geese. Keep track of who you’ve talked to, which companies received your resume, interviews completed and phone calls made. When you’re feeling like you haven’t made progress, the documentation will really help.
6. Measure Your Progress: Set goals and standards for each day’s work. Setting and keeping objectives will help you maintain the sense that you are moving forward. Set reasonable goals for repeated daily actions. Over the course of six weeks, 7 resumes sent, 10 phone calls made (at least leaving a message) and 3 phone calls completed (actually talking to someone about your work) is a good standard.
7. Spiritual Practice: Pray, meditate, go to church, read inspirational books, listen to a motivational tape, visualize success, visit natural beauty. Whatever your spiritual discipline, set aside at least thirty minutes each day to get in touch with the larger forces that influence your life.
8. Exercise: Another half hour commitment. Moving your body will move your mind. Walk, run, lift or ride.
9. Diet: Avoid sugars and high fructose corn syrup. These are the dangerous food chemicals that play with your mood. Job changes often produce a few extra pounds around the middle. Watch for emotional eating.
10. Media Consumption: The economic news is dismal. The world is falling apart. The end is near. You don’t need so much of this right now. Ration your news consumption to 15 minutes per day. Listen to music instead.

The only trouble with a list like this is that no one can do it all, all at once. Find one thing on the list that you aren’t doing and start there. Get good at that one thing for a couple of weeks. Then add another item from the list.

Remember, it’s normal to be scared and to have the fear prevent you from getting stuff done. Building small personal routines in these ten areas can help to build a foundation for progress. Good luck.

Is Unemployment Fear Getting The Best of You? 10 Tips To Get Over It is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Related posts:

1. Overcoming Layoff F.E.A.R.s – Part Four: Rejection Fear
2. Dealing With Unemployment Depression
3. Four Tips To Overcome Fear And Anxiety In Your New Job