Blog entries December 2012

12/05/2012We All Really Do Belong Somewhere!

Probably the most interesting part of job search coaching for three decades has been witnessing outcomes. I am there from the beginning, middle and end of a job search. The outcome of a job search is really easy to predict. Candidates either get hired with quality or give up and settle. Everyone ends up working somewhere, but the one factor that defines how well the search ends has much to do with perseverance and self-esteem, i.e., how good they feel about themselves.

I’ll continue to spend my days on my blog warning that your résumé may well be killing your opportunities or that if your interview is off just a bit, the next candidate will take for himself what, perhaps, you felt was meant to be your opportunity. But way beyond these mechanical exercises, remember that he who wins is many times he who endured the battle the longest. Boxing comes to mind.

Job search can really challenge your sense of identity, shake your confidence and make you question whether or not those achievements in your past were even valid. Anyone who denies they have ever felt this way, no matter how great they may appear, is not forthcoming.

The most important point? You are who you are and you are just as valuable on your first day of job search as you were the day before your layoff! No one can ever take away your qualifications, achievements or sense of self. Never allow anyone to invalidate you!

I’m a big fan of authors like Rick Warren and Max Lucado because they reinforce things I may lose sight of on a cold December day when I don’t see the sun. Mr. Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life reminds me that I’m here on a specific mission. And in fewer but no less compelling words Max Lucado says,
May we all win our competitions in 2013 and may we all be here to encourage each other to accept the mission. I know I will! See ya on the super-highway!

Janice Worthington