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.