For those of us out there job hunting and for those of us who have been through it in the past, know how painful a process it can be. It can take a lot perseverance and resilience. A career has become more than just a source of monetary gain for our generation and to find a career that is right for us and our life choices is already hard enough as it is, without the added pressure we place on ourselves. Some of us have lived more sheltered lives enabled by our caregivers and educational systems and to suddenly be put out there in the world, can seem a little harsh and intimidating. We have always been taught that failure is bad and we should never fail. So we dread doing anything that could possibly lead to failure.
We look at the people around us succeeding in their career or even just landing their first step to it, and we feel like their methods would not suit us and so we could probably never be them. We cannot make a perfunctory effort toward achieving something and then later grumble when it does not come through. The fear of being rejected and consequently the fear of feeling pained stands as a deterrent between us and our goals. But if the effort we made toward that goal was tepid, we cannot judge ourselves by that failure.
Through this process, what we need is a game plan to move forward and we could begin by taking things one step at a time. Looking at what we need to achieve as a whole is what makes it look intimidating in the first place. Instead, we could break it all out into steps to be dealt with individually. Some confidence can go a long way and one of our first few steps would be to begin building confidence. For instance, if you feel your resume needs brushing up, concentrate on making that happen before worrying about where to apply. And once you’re satisfied with the application you have made, you may be more confident applying. Another way to keep our confidence up is to stay organized in our daily lives; the feeling of being able to manage our day-to-day activities gives us confidence to take on more.
The next step of the game plan is awareness. Being aware of how we are feeling through each step can help us deal with those feelings. Burying those feelings will never fully help them find their way out of you. The kind of understanding we have of ourselves could change with such kind of self awareness.
It is also important to be aware of what we are getting into. Part of the reason we lack confidence is our lack of preparation. Know the skills you require, the skills than can still be honed, the pros and cons of that career and so on, and put real effort into it. And most importantly, do not always dwell on the negative. We tend to bog ourselves down with such thoughts, and it is vital to stay positive and be proud of our strengths instead.
