Think of searching for a job as a job in it-self. You may have to do things that you don’t like or are uncomfortable in order to be successful. Here are six inspiring steps to help you overcome any job search anxiety you might have and get that job you deserve.
1. The First Step is to Get Pumped on Being Great
You are great! And who better to help you get pumped than Will Smith. In this video he explains (rather enthusiastically) that your words and thoughts have physical power as well as his attitude about life.
2. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
The first step towards getting a job is to change your mindset. When you are just starting out on your job search, it can sound daunting. There are not clear places to start and you can apply to hundreds of jobs without getting a response, especially when the job market is so competitive.
Additionally, job search avenues such as the Hidden Job Market (which I recommend) take far more initiative than sitting back on the computer and praying the online job market shoots you out a perfect interview.
The problem is that everyone is hoping for this perfect interview to just show up in their inbox. It is time to take control of your job search, beat your job search anxiety, and stop the desperate inaction or mindless applications to as many jobs as possible.
To empower yourself in your job search, there are a few mindset changes you are required to make in the next few steps. If you follow these steps you will gain control over your job search and better your chances at landing an interview.
3. It is uncomfortable and sounds morbid, but everything is minor to death
Here is my favorite part of this 15 min speech by Steve Jobs (definitely worth watching):
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
You have nothing to lose and nothing to be embarrassed about in your job search.
4. Sidestep Fear
Realizing you have nothing to lose will decrease your job search anxiety. Now it’s time to overcome that fear that holds you back. Some of the actions that will be required to find job search success in the will make you overcome fears you might have – primarily the fear of rejection and failure. It is important to sidestep these fears now before they rob you of any more potential.
Also see video: How to Increase the Potential of Your Job Search
Ask any successful person whom you wish to emulate, and they will agree that the ability to accept failure is one of the most important parts of achieving success. Failure has and does happen to the best of us, and it will happen to you to. Learning from your failures and moving on will lead you to success.
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. – Robert F. Kennedy
5. Disregard Luck and Develop an Internal Sense of Control
People unknowingly assume getting a job is about getting lucky. WRONG! Getting a job is directly correlated to how much effort you put forth and in NO WAY should be perceived as luck. Luck will play a small role in your success.
The harder I work, the luckier I seem to get. – Attributed to many famous people
If you get out there, meet people, network, call, email, visit companies, etc. you will develop more control and feel in charge of your job search. The only way to have a successful job search is to develop and internal sense of control. To successfully land your dream job is to accept that your actions control the eventual outcome. Always remember that your success will start and end with your own efforts.
6. Perception is Reality
One of the most powerful things you can understand is the power of perception. Everyone likes to think that they won’t be swayed by surface information and they will see the real side of a person. The truth is that we are all collecting 1% of the information about a person and making assumptions for the remanding 99%. This is both good and bad.
The bad part is that if we don’t put the best 1% forward, people will have a poor perception of who we really are. On the other hand, because people are only judging us of 1%, if we can control that 1% of our outgoing perception we can make ourselves look awesome. It’s not manipulative or tricky; this is just the reality of the situation so we should put our best foot forward and understand it.
The Two Different Types of Perception:
A. How others perceive you
This is the 1% that dictates the 99% that I was talking about before. People are going to judge you on things like; clothes, cars, location, friends, education, vocabulary, body language, and confidence. When you go into an interview you don’t need to control all of these, just a few. Clothes, body language, and confidence are the easy ones to put forth. If you can nail these three and show that this 1% is awesome, then as far as the interviewer knows, the rest of your 99% is awesome as well.
B. How you perceive yourself
This is a little more difficult. You may have heard, “Fake it till you make it.” I like to say, “Believe it until you become it.” If you wake up every day believing you are awesome, one day you will be. Sure you need a plan, goal, and all of that, but the believing part is MOST important.
BONUS
Finally, if you are having trouble getting into a successful job search mindset and still have anxiety and worry creeping in, separate yourself from your job search and pretend to be someone that you look up to. Ask yourself, “How would <insert successful person> act in this situation?” “How would he or she answer this question?”
P.S. Here is some additional advice I recommend to let go and be happy, and then inspire you to get a job you love: The 21 Things to let Go to Become the Happiest Person in the World
P.S.S. I love this Google commercial below. MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!