Successful Job Searches

As unemployment figures continue to sky rocket the logical consequence for a job searcher is that he is looking for something that gets harder to find by the day. Thus as being out of a job means you’ll have to put more effort in your quest to secure a new position than ever before. On the other hand it opens an opportunity to place yourself in a much stronger position then before. The key is being honest with yourself and work your way back with a proactive attitude. When you work with clarity and from a place, “where you know where you want to go” your are ahead of 90% or more of your fellows.

Companies do Hire even the Darkest Times

No matter what economic climate we live in companies do hire people. They might hire less, or have to let go of groups of employees, but when in they stay in business they will need people to help them solve their specific issues. In challenging times the demand for “out of the box” employees diminishes, but the demand for people that can help the company to survive and even thrive increases.

Don’t say you’re not such a person because you believe you’ve never saved businesses from going under, tripled sales figures in a month or some other heroic claim.

First of all when we look at our own capabilities we mostly heavily underestimate ourselves. This even holds true for most very capable and very assured looking executives. We are our own worse critics. Try to listen to your own self talk, write some it down if you want but take a closer look at what you are actually telling yourself. Our human tendency is to put emphasis on what we think we can’t do and highly denigrate that what are good at.

Introspection Can be Difficult when the Lion Roars at Your Doorstep

When you find yourself in the uneasy position of being out of work (but preferably before) take a good look at your work life. What do you do well, what do you like, is there anything you just love to do without it costing you any effort at all? Ask the people that know you about it, we often don’t see these natural abilities ourselves. In that way we are like the fish who rarely notices water because he lives in it.

Ask yourself what your ideal job would look like, what elements are present and which parts do you refuse to do. It’s important to know what you want, and what you dislike with a passion. First of all you need to know where you are going, and secondly it makes you stronger. Stronger in your own eyes and the eyes of others, that is the great opportunity in your unemployed status. This is the crossroads from a reactive lifestyle, to a proactive way of living. As employer and human I find someone that can tell me what he does but also what he doesn’t want much more convincing then the person who will do anything if it pays a few dollars.

Take you new found strengths and project them on the workplace you want to be in. How would you go about the problems facing your industry, profession or society? Where/what would you do different, and how? These are the points where you can potentially achieve “stardom”.

Now you can start looking around for companies you would like to work, and you can even tell them why (and strange as it may seem this is rare). You have a good idea about the challenges and possibilities of the company and industry as a whole. And probably came up with a few answers to their difficulties. It doesn’t even matter if those answers will or will not work, by thinking and preparing yourself this way you are ahead of 90% or more of your fellow job searchers. A good resume is the second pillar to build on