If you're feeling overwhelmed in your job search, you're not alone. I have watched people struggle and feel overwhelmed in a process that can be empowering. Ultimately, the key ingredient for a minimally stressful job search is confidence. So, in this article, I share 5 tips for how to get insanely confident during your job search.
The thing about job searching is that if you're not confident in yourself, it comes across. It shows up in the way you interact with people, how you market yourself, and talk about your skillset.
Moreover, if you are in any phase of the job search, whether it's when you're submitting your resume or when you're interviewing, or when you're negotiating: if you don't have confidence when you talk about yourself, or what you want, there's a level of timidness that comes across.
This can seem like you either don't really know want you're saying you want (i.e. the job), or you don't know what you're talking about.
The way you carry yourself? That’s confidence, and that’s what you need!
By carrying yourself, it’s not just about physical movements and gestures. Rather, it can be in the way you speak or ask questions.
On the other hand, when you approach the job search without confidence, it makes the process a lot harder!
If you have read some of my other articles, you might know that I approach career search as a whole with a framework that has two parts: the first part is discovery and the second is attainment.
In the discovery phase, you're learning more about who you are. In this phase, you can find work that you love.
On the other hand, the attainment phase is where you're actually doing what you need to do to get to the job you want. However, a lot of times during the attainment phase, people I worked with tend to lose or lack confidence when they don't have clarity.
When they are not clear about what it is they want or who they are, that's where the lack of confidence comes in. It’s the feeling of overwhelm.
Let’s be real here, there’s a lot that goes into job searching, right? And sometimes, just even thinking about it can become overwhelming and can cause a hit to your confidence. That being said, let’s head over on how to get insanely confident during your job search.
The first step way to become insanely confident during your job search is to stay positive. I know it might sound like nothing life-changing, but in reality, it definitely is. Some people even think that others are born or naturally confident. That couldn't be further from the truth!
Confidence is something that you can develop.
You can cultivate confidence in yourself, and a great way for you to develop that confidence is by staying positive.
It is important that you are always aware of what is happening in your head. And when I say what's happening in your head, what are you telling yourself about yourself? What do you believe about the job search process? What do you think about your abilities and your skills? Because those thoughts will show up in your confidence level.
Science and research have shown that our brains have this thing called negativity bias, where we tend to always look for the negative side of things. As a result, we lean towards asking ourselves what if it doesn't work out? What if I fail? We tend to lean towards the negative.
If you are trying to develop confidence, you have to be intentional about being aware of what is happening in your mind. Share on X
How are you speaking to yourself about the job?
When you're saying those self-deprecating things to yourself, it impacts how you see yourself. It impacts the amount of effort you put into the job search and the actions that you take.
Whether you know it or not, it shows up in how you carry yourself. And so, it's important that you are able to catch yourself and your thoughts so that when you hear yourself saying those negative things.
When you hear yourself telling yourself negative things or prophesying negative outcomes, you want to be able to catch that and replace it with a process and a mindset that is more liberating. I've talked about this before, where sometimes we have limiting career beliefs. So, you want to always check what do I believe about the job search? And if it's limiting, that's not going to be helpful.
You can't just expect your self-talk to automatically become positive just because you want it to, that's not how this works! You are going to have to be intentional about replacing your mindset. Replace the negative self-talk with positive self-talk. That’s pretty much what affirmations are!
If you are someone of faith, say you’re a Christian like me, find some of your favorite bible verses that speak life into you, and use those. Write them down and speak to them over yourself.
Another way to develop or stay positive is getting objective about your skills, accomplishments, and strengths. Think back to all the things and jobs that you've had. These moments can be the times where you have been successful or when you have contributed some help.
For instance, you might have helped in increasing revenue or client retention or decreasing cost, or you even revamped a whole new program. Whatever it may be, you might want to write them down. When you read these accomplishments and skills, it results in an objective lens that makes you see your actual accomplishments.
If you've been following my content for a while, you might know that talk about creating something that I call a brag bank. Whenever someone sends you a thank you email, or a “good job!” message, make a “brag bank” email folder to keep them in one place, or just store or write them somewhere else, like in an online journal or a physical notebook.
Keep track of your accomplishments while they're happening, as opposed to waiting to remember them, because you can't trust your brain. Many of us treat our brains like computers, but it was not created to store information. Writing or keeping track makes us not forget.
The second way that you can become insanely confident during your job search is to stay organized.
If you're job searching, it’s a whole lot of work. If anybody ever tells you, “Oh, just submit a resume. You’ll get a job! It's literally so easy.” They're lying to you! 😂
Job searching is hard work.
It can take a physical and mental toll on you. There are so many pieces of it that are happening while you're applying in one place. Again, the feeling of overwhelm will start to rise. So, what you can do is stay organized. This is about taking down notes again.
You're going to want to stay organized because you will feel like you have a better handle on your job search. Consequently, you’re less likely to doubt yourself. It'll help you feel like you're more in control of the whole process.
The third way that you can become insanely confident in doing your job search is to stay connected.
Not only is job searching a part-time job at the very least, but it might be a full-time job for some people. Since it involves tons of work, it can lead to isolation.
Job searching can make you feel like you're alone or going through the process alone.
Relationship building is important throughout your career. Period. So ideally, you're always regularly building professional relationships, but during your job search more than ever, those relationships are key. Why? Because you’ll want someone who can say to you, “oh, that's the perfect job for you, or, oh, you'd be really great at that job”
On the other hand, they can also look out for you by saying “Are you sure you want to do that? Are you certain that that's the job you want to apply for? Do you really want to be in that company? Is that the right fit for you?"
You’ll want people who can stay connected with you throughout the process. In a more literal and basic sense of that support piece, you’ll want someone who can just bring you a snack while you're on the computer, looking at roles. Someone who can cover you up with a blanket when you fall asleep on your computer. Someone who’ll bring you a hot cup of tea or chocolate or a glass of wine—hey, dealer’s choice!
The bottom line is you want to stay supported. When you have those relationships cheering for you throughout the process, it will boost your confidence.
Do you get why there are cheerleaders in games now? It’s because they help boost the confidence of the team and the crowd since they're sort of being the ambassador for the team. So, throughout the whole job search process, stay connected with your personal cheerleaders.
The fourth way to become insanely confident in your job search is to stay healthy.
I've mentioned this throughout the post, but I’m going to keep going: job searching can be overwhelming. It’s very easy for you to let the overwhelming nature of the job search take over, right? Like, you could find yourself spending hours, just hunched over your computer, looking at rows, scrolling around, or just sitting down for so long.
What happens? Your body will start to get stiff. At times you might forget to eat or get up. You might even forget to look away from the screen because you’re so focused on job searching. Those situations will leave you drained and tired. Worse, they will lead to sickness.
When you are in a stressful situation, it will affect you physically and mentally. If you are approaching your job search without a strategy and not intentional about staying healthy, you're likely to experience a negative impact on your health.
You’ll find yourself spending hours and hours doing the job search and not getting results when you start to get stressed.
According to the journal of physical activity, research has actually shown that physical health is linked to self-esteem and confidence. It means when you're more physically fit, and healthy, you're likely to be more confident about yourself.
While it’s easy to get lost in that abyss of job searching, don't forget to look away from the screen sometimes and take breaks.
During the breaks, do what you want. Whether it’s going out for fresh air, a workout, a stretch, or a little book reading. The important thing is that you want to move your body or do something else with your mind! With that, you’ll take care of your physical and mental health.
The better shape you're in physically and mentally, the more confident you are, the stronger your job search approach will be.
The better shape you're in physically and mentally, the more confident you are, the stronger your job search approach will be. Share on X
The fifth and final way to get insanely confident while you’re job searching is to stay supported professionally. It always amazes me how many women wait until they have reached the breaking point of their job or their career before they seek professional help. Remember this: you can't wait until things are going to absolute crap before you look for someone to help you with your career or your job search.
Working with a career professional can boost your confidence. They can expertly and objectively look at your experiences, skills, and history to help you navigate and craft a career story that accurately depicts who you want to be in the world of work.
When I say career professional, it could be a career coach, a career counselor, career strategist etc. I've heard a bunch of different titles. But in finding a professional, look for someone that’s a fit for you.
Here’s the thing: when you’re entrenched in your work history, it can be difficult to objectively step out of your career story and see innovative ways to market yourself. You might be thinking, “I've always been an accountant, so the only other job I can apply for is accounting roles”. It's not hard to get into that tunnel vision mindset when you're the one living your own career.
Here’s the thing: when you’re entrenched in your work history, it can be difficult to objectively step out of your career story and see innovative ways to market yourself. Share on X
When you are able to step out and work with a professional, they can objectively look at your history. They’ll find your transferrable skills to help you start connecting with people, building your network, crafting your marketing materials in a way that helps to boost your confidence.
Remember how one of the ways to insanely be confident during a job search is to stay organized? Working with a career professional can help you with that. They can keep you on track. They can also provide the action that you need to take to achieve those goals.
Furthermore, a career professional is here for those exact purposes to ask you questions that will help you stay objective about yourself.
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