And if you don’t like yourself, then why should your next employer want to hire you? The quote for the week is from Norman Vincent Peale: ”It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.” Or a quote from Samuel Johnson, “Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.”
Being at ease with and liking yourself helps your job search. Questions to ponder:
| QUESTION | COMMENT |
| Do you wonder what is wrong with you because no one responds to your resume? | This is not personal and it is not a rejection. |
| Do you criticize yourself when an interview doesn’t go well? | Consider it practice, learn from it and go on. |
| Are you applying for jobs beneath your abilities? | It usually doesn’t work as employers think you will leave as soon as the economy improves. This also undermines your self confidence because you wonder why even a job for which you are overqualified has rejected you. |
| Do you refrain from telling friends and people you meet that you are looking for a job? | It is said that approximately 50% of jobs come from networking. Write an upbeat personal commercial (elevator speech) and start letting people know how they can help you. |
| Do you tell yourself that you will never find a satisfying job? | In the words of Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” So you might as well choose to tell yourself that you will find a satisfying job and then take the necessary steps to find it. (See www.careercoachjill.com for Steps to Finding the Job You Want.) |
Two small pieces of advice on increasing self confidence:
- Stop internal critical messages.
- Find a place where you have impact or success. Volunteer, find a temporary/contract job, exercise or help someone else.
An interesting book on the topic of changing your mind set is Learned Optimism by Martin E. P. Seligman, PH.D, POCKET BOOKS, A Division of Simon & Shuster, 1998.
PLEASE COMMENT
Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories. Once a month, I will choose one commenter to contact for a free coaching session.
HOW TO REACH ME
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.” Norman Vincent Peale
