Confidence is the secret sauce of personal and professional success. I don’t know about you, but I am envious of those individuals who seem to be so naturally comfortable in their skin. They are oblivious to what others think of them (or at least they seem to be). They live their lives courageously and without concern about the opinions of other people.
Related: What’s Confidence Got To Do With A Job?
There is no doubt that having confidence in your abilities is key to your success in your job search. If you aren’t convinced of your ability to do a job, how can you possibly convince anyone else that you can do the job? You need confidence and you need to convey that confidence during every interaction that you have with your future employer.
Don’t mistake confidence with cockiness, however. Displaying an overly confident demeanor that is fake or contrived can convey a lack of confidence and an interest in trying to cover the underlying insecurities that you may feel. Likewise, over confidence that is based more on the power of your personality than on your ability to perform is also a big turn off. Confidence is something one can build, but it is not really something that you can fake long term. People sense quickly if you are being inauthentic or not. They will know if you are truly confident or if you are a pretender.
So how does one display confidence in oneself when one is experiencing the vulnerability of job hunting? That requires an ability to be real and true to yourself while owning your vulnerability and not letting it handicap you. If you are job hunting and having trouble with your confidence level, try these strategies for building your self- confidence up.
Develop an exercise regimen and stick with it.
You may wonder what working out has to do with building confidence, but the truth is that it is a key to your ability to believe in yourself. Confidence is all about how you feel about yourself. When you make a commitment to work out and you stick to it, not only do you gain the obvious health benefits of the work out, but your self-esteem grows because you have made a commitment to yourself and you have kept it. It is a win-win all the way around. So, if you need to build your confidence level, start a work-out routine, and stick with it.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
This is your life. You lose out every time you waste a single second in comparing yourself to someone else unless it is someone who motivates you to take your performance to the next level. Do you have a hero (or a shero) who inspires you and makes you want to do better? Great! If you are comparing yourself to someone based on what you perceive to be going on in their lives and you wish you had their house, their job, their car, their relationship, and so on, you are doing yourself harm. First, you never know what their real story is…so it is impossible to know if they have it better than you or not…and secondly, if you are living your life fully and authentically, you won’t have time to pay attention to what other people have. Strive to be the best YOU can be…but don’t compare yourself to others unless you want to be miserable.
Use positive affirmations to disrupt negative self-talk.
We all have those nasty little voices in the back of our heads that are determined to undermine and derail us at every turn. Even the most seemingly confident person on the planet has moments of self-doubt. It goes along with being human. It is okay to have those voices…it isn’t okay to listen to them without interrupting them and disrupting them. One way to disrupt them is to have a positive affirmation to bring up when you catch yourself falling victim to the negative chatter in your head. My particular favorite is one I learned as I was studying to become a minister: “I am perfect, whole, and complete, just as I am.” Choose one that works for you and write it on a card to carry with you until you remember it on your own.
You are always going to have that negative voice in your head, but you choose whether to listen to it or not. If you choose to listen to it without interruption, your confidence will be shredded to pieces on a daily basis. You will never be able to convey your true worth to anyone else because you will not believe in it yourself.
Confidence springs from knowing that you are doing what you were meant to be doing with your life and with feeling that you are living for yourself and not for other people. When you stop comparing yourself to everyone else and you learn to disrupt the negative self-talk, you have come a long way toward developing the confidence you need during a job search. The recommendation that you work out will have many other side benefits, but it will also add to your level of confidence. Try it and see.
The bottom line is that people are more attractive when they convey an air of confidence. Likewise, we are repelled energetically by those people who convey a sense of neediness or a lack of self-worth. If you want to be successful in your job search, you must convey confidence and an upbeat attitude. While you can try to fake it, you will be more successful more quickly if you develop your sense of self-confidence so that it exudes from you naturally and without overt effort.
Employers are just like everyone else. They want to be around people who are confident in their abilities and who are upbeat in their disposition. They don’t want to bring aboard negative people because they tend to infect the workplace with their negativity.
So, work out, stop comparing yourself to others, and choose a positive affirmation that can help anchor your feelings of confidence so that you can approach your job search with a sense of anticipation instead of fear and dread. Job hunting doesn’t have to be a negative event in your life. In fact, it may lead to the greatest opportunity you have ever had! You just need to watch your perspective.
Happy job hunting!
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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