Your positive attitude
If you take a positive mental attitude to looking for a job, you’ll have more energy and be more productive. Give yourself some goals and dreams you feel inspired to pursue.
Work on your belief in yourself. The more positive you feel about your own abilities, your job prospects, the companies you apply to, and life in general, the more likely you are to get the right job.
As part of developing and maintaining your positive attitude:
Don’t put off your job search
When you decide that it’s time to look for a job, don’t put it off. You might be afraid of being rejected by employers, or find interviews embarrassing, or just not feel great about making changes in your life, but putting off the job search won’t make those feelings go away. Only getting a new job will banish them, and that will only happen if you look for one.
You can reduce your fears by creating a job search strategy. Plan to do something every day towards getting a job, set realistic milestones and reward yourself for reaching them.
Look forward, not back
It is important to learn from your experiences. Like everyone else, you probably make mistakes. You’ve made them in the past and you’ll make them in the future. The important thing to remember is to learn from them and use those lessons in your life.
You may have had a great time in your last job, or you may not be happy about how things panned out. From the point of view of your current job search, whatever happened there gave you knowledge that you can use to plan for the future and hunt for the job you want.
Take responsibility for your own job search
This is your life. You, and only you, are responsible for the success of your job search.
Lots of people and organisations can help you along the way: family, friends and people you’ve worked with; agencies and employment consultants; career advisers and websites. But in the end, finding a job is up to you.
Be prepared for employers to say ‘No’
Be realistic. You probably won’t get the first job you apply for; you’re unlikely to get even the first few jobs. Employers usually have lots of applicants to choose from. Don’t take rejection personally—it’s part of the job search process. You just can’t avoid it.
But no matter how many rejections you get, never give up. Getting regular rejections from employers means you are trying hard to find a job. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, you are on the path to success. Every ‘No’ brings you one step closer to the employer who will say, ‘Yes, we want you!’
Sometimes it’s really hard to keep feeling positive when employers don’t answer your phone calls or applications, or you get turned down repeatedly. There are things you can do to cope with knock-backs.
Tip!
Reward yourself for meeting your goals.
- When you’re starting out, just having the courage to make your first cold call to an employer may be something to congratulate yourself for.
- After a week spent ringing around, answering job ads and rewriting your resume, you might want to give yourself a weekend treat.
- Getting as far as landing a job interview, even if it doesn’t result in an offer, is a success worth celebrating.
Be flexible
Stay open to new ideas, think creatively, and take risks.
Look at all the possibilities on offer. For example, your next job might be a short-term contract, or a combination of two or three part-time jobs, or of studying and working.
Think about all the skills and expertise you have to offer a potential employer. For example, if you’ve worked in a clothes shop, you’ve probably got valuable skills in operating a cash register, organising EFTPOS transactions, ordering, customer service and displaying stock. You can use those skills in any retail environment.
Don’t define your future job too narrowly. Sometimes the job you want just doesn’t exist yet. It’s better to work elsewhere and broaden your experience than it is to sit around unemployed waiting for the perfect job.
Be persistent and patient
The secret to success is persistence. One common reason why people don’t achieve their career objective is that they give up too early.
You must be patient. Your best efforts won’t always produce immediate results.
If your search isn’t getting you the results you want, don’t beat yourself up about it. Job searching is hard work. There are times when you’ll feel discouraged and bored with the job search. When you feel this way, ask yourself: Do I need to change the way I’m doing things? If you’re not sure, ask friends, family or a career counsellor for help.
Try different methods of job hunting to keep yourself interested; think about ways in which you could be flexible. Every now and again, revise your job search strategy to take account of new things you’ve learned, and to make the most of new opportunities that have opened up since you first wrote it.
Be disciplined
All sorts of things will distract you when you are looking for a job. There’ll be days when anything will sound like a better idea than job hunting.
Keep your priorities in mind. Stay focused on the things you have to do to increase your chances of landing a good job.
But keep your life balanced; don’t forget that there are other things in life besides work. Make sure you still do things that keep you relaxed and happy: exercising, socialising and engaging in hobbies and interests.