5 Ways to Feel More Confident As A Job Seeker

I love the magazine Inc.  I was looking up an article on their website and found some cool stuff.  One is an article titled 5 Easy Ways to Feel More Confident.

I thought that would make a good post for job seekers, especially since many job seekers give off a feeling of poor confidence that affects their success.

Number 1

Inc says: Develop relationships with other entrepreneurs.

For job seekers, I say: Develop relationships with other job seekers.  I totally misunderstood the value of this in my job search, and spent about six weeks without going to any local job search networking clubs.  It was a huge mistake, and once I started going to those meetings, I benefited in many ways.  One way was that I found out how normal my situation was, which allowed me to stop beating myself up.

Number 2

Inc says: Manage fear proactively.

For job seekers, I say: Manage fear proactively. Read what Inc says about #2…. as a job seeker this means you GO to the meeting.  Go where others are.  PICK UP the phone and make the call. Reach out to people on your chicken list.  What are you afraid of?  Do one thing a day to proactively attack what’s keeping you back, and making you feel less confident.

Number 3

Inc says: Celebrate the positive.

For job seekers, I say: Celebrate the positive.  The Inc article is saying to record your past wins. I have talked about that multiple times on this blog. Use JibberJobber’s Job Journal to record your wins!  And for today, celebrate any positive thing that happens today!  Big or small – recognize, have gratitude, and celebrate it!

Number 4

Inc says: Listen to customers

For job seekers, I say: Listen to your spouse, or close loved one.  They should have a different perspective that would be helpful to you, after a day of resume black hole and rejections.  Get grounded by people who know enough to give you real, good input.

Number 5

Inc says: Seek and find external validation

For job seekers, I say: Seek and find external validation. For some lucky people, you might get it from loved ones and family.  For others, it might come from professors, past colleagues, someone at workforce services, etc.  Find someone who is honest with you, and can honestly tell you how great you are.  You don’t need someone to tell you all the bad stuff about you – the voices in your head do that.  Find someone who will honestly tell you how you are doing.  Sometimes we are doing fine, but we beat ourselves up over not finding a job today.  Maybe a third party is your voice of reason. Perhaps the hardest part of this one is actually believing what others say about you.

What do YOU do to become more confident in a very trying time?