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Bounce Back from Job Search Dejection
There is randomness in job searches. Not every step will be successful. It's easier said than done, but here are three ways to build resilience:
— Harvard Business Review
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Prepare in a first-class way. Prepare and execute a sensible plan. Develop a winning personal value proposition, and execute it with energy. Your plan may not have worked yet, but confidence comes from doing what you know is right. The only way you can deserve to fail is if you don't prepare.
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Detach. Maintain a healthy distance from the result. Do everything you can to initiate contact or prepare for interviews, but don't get overly committed. You'll do better in meetings. You'll learn from any disappointments. Take the perspective of the Greek Stoics, the Buddha, or the Alcoholics Anonymous program whose Serenity Prayer has advice for job seekers just as it does for people needing help with addiction: "Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." (For a fuller discussion, I recommend The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.)
Moreover, a lack of success may have nothing to do with you. Who does the interview, how skilled he is at it, and what kind of day he's having can affect the decision. Or there may only be a single job opening rather than several. Or management may have promised the job to an internal candidate, and outside interviews are only a required process.
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Learn and adjust. Reassess if your plan isn't working. Maybe you're reaching too high for now. Maybe you're not approaching people in your network in the right way. Learn from what's happening and adjust. That will keep you focused, targeted on success, and productive.
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1 Comment
There are always plenty of good jobs, statistics don't apply to the individual. I know from experience that it's possible to find a good job fast if anyone just gets on the telephone and starts making calls.
But sometimes unemployment is just nature's way of saying "start your own practice". :-) How? For more see the new, free, virtual Small Business Chamber of Commerce (click here) which has been formed to help local chambers to provide more real help to startups and small businesses. If you are in Denver, visit our model IDEA Cafe Startup Workshop, free and open to everyone each Friday afternoon at Panera Bread, 13th & Grant just a block from the Colorado state capitol.
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