The #1 Reason You Aren’t Getting Hired

May 20, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

I heard from a former client recently who has been having a hard time finding work.  He shared his frustration about applying for “100’s” of jobs not getting interviews, or if he did have an interview, not getting a job offer.  After 18 months of this, he was pretty angry.  He proceeded to give me a litany of reasons for his negativity.  Let’s look at these four:

1. Employers are rude, they won’t even acknowledge that they have received my applications.

2. The economy sucks, no one is hiring.

3. Companies won’t pay me what I am worth.

4. The people doing the hiring are guilty of age discrimination.

While these statements may have some truth to them, they are undermining the candidate’s chances for employment.  Why?  Because the unhappy jobseeker is blaming externals for his predicament and his negative attitude is derailing his forward motion.  Yup, the number one reason you may not be getting hired is your attitude.

Let’s look at each of these complaints from a more positive perspective.

1. Employers are swamped with applicants and may be short staffed.  Imagine yourself as the hiring person being deluged with resumes, many of which are poorly written, hard to read, and inappropriate for the position.  Having been in the position of screening resumes, I can tell you it is an exercise in patience to review each one and make thoughtful decisions regarding which pile to put it in:  maybe a fit, not a fit but maybe could be considered for something else, and totally unqualified for the position.  Then you take the maybe stack and sort it down to the strongest candidates, coming up with the number of candidates to be interviewed (like the top 3-10).  Is it reasonable to expect every person be sent an acknowledgment that their application has been received?  I don’t think so.

2. Even in economic downturns people are hiring. You may just have to look harder to identify where you might fit. 80% of jobs aren’t advertised. I encourage you to do some information interviewing to get the inside scoop on a company’s culture, needs and potential openings. If there truly are no jobs in your field, consider starting your own business.  Really look at your resume.  What else can you do with your experience, education, training, and talent?

3. What are you worth, really, to a potential employer?  In your correspondence and contact with an organization you need to stress what YOU can do for THEM, not the other way around.  Can you save them time, increase productivity, save them money?  How will the organization benefit by hiring you?

4. Although there may be age discrimination, carrying it around as a chip on your shoulder is not going to help you get hired.  Instead of tackling the “age issue” emphasize your experience, your knowledge, the wisdom you bring and the maturity.  Another advantage of hiring older workers is that they tend to be reliable, dependable, and diligent workers. Turn your attitude into thinking about what a great catch you are for some fortunate employer and see if that doesn’t make a difference!

Bottom line—put yourself in the employers’ role, wouldn’t you rather hire a candidate with a positive attitude?  Yeah, so would I.

Go forward confidently, energetically attacking problems, expecting favorable outcomes. Norman Vincent Peale

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

More great quotes on attitude

Filed Under Career Transition, Featured Tagged With attitude, career, employment, fulfillment, getting hired

The Key to Fulfilling Work – Look Inward

March 25, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Are you scouring want ads, searching internet job sites, and checking out staffing agency listings in hopes of finding your next great career move? The truth is there aren’t so many employers looking to hire these days and the job market remains quite competitive. Maybe what you are looking for isn’t “out there”. There really isn’t a job description that says “this is your ultimate perfect work come apply now”. The thing is, we need to stop looking out there for the elusive fulfilling work and start looking inward.

In working with people on career change one question I hear frequently is: “How can I have work that is personally fulfilling, makes a difference, and pays the bills?” There is no easy answer to this question. Cheryl Richardson in her book Stand Up for Your Life says: “First, you must make your personal and spiritual development a top priority by following your own unique path toward healing and growth. Second, as you develop a strong character by doing this work, you are also charged with improving the world in some way.”

Personal and spiritual development requires you to look inward, to get to know your inner self. Who are you? What are you passionate about? What are you good at? What motivates you? What kinds of tasks do you really enjoy doing and do well? You don’t have to have all the answers at any given time but it can be extremely helpful to identify these.

Here are some examples:
• bringing joy to others
• building things
• teaching or mentoring others
• creating beauty
• healing wounds
• analyzing information
• finding a new or better way for something to function
• gathering data
• nurturing people

Think about what you love to do that comes easily to you. These are your natural talents or “gifts”. Next, consider how these talents are expressed in your life. Let’s say for example, you identified “teaching or mentoring others” as a core driver for you. How might you do that in your life? Is it something you do in your current occupation or job? Are you able to teach or mentor through other means such as volunteer work? If not, is there a way you can incorporate teaching and mentoring others into your life? Moving into the work you love to do and do well gives us energy, it feeds the spirit and more often than not, brings us a sense of abundance as well as increasing our cashflow.

If you have a sense of being prompted to move into a different line of work, consider what is missing in your current job or occupation. Could be a bit of looking inward is in order. More on this next post!

Filed Under Featured Tagged With fulfillment, Passions, talents

Respond To Your Calling

February 27, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

I believe that each and every human on the planet possesses a unique combination of gifts and talents that need to be expressed in the world. I view our physical being as the vehicle that houses our soul, our essence, our personality, through which these gifts flow.

What are you dreaming of doing, of creating, of finding? These thoughts are prompting you to take some action! We tend to sit in our minds complacently pondering the “what ifs” and wondering about the roads not taken in the past and years go by. Sound familiar? How about these thoughts: “I can’t switch careers now, I am too old” or “I’d have to go back to school and get a degree/training/certified”, or “the economy is bad, now is the wrong time for me to start a business”.

What are you telling yourself that is holding you back from pursuing your life’s work? Make a list, write it down and then go through each and every thought and look at it boldly and ask; “is this really true?” If your inclination is to nod your head just stop for a moment and watch the “proof” that your minds puts up. How do you know the internal dialog you are listening to is the truth? What if it isn’t? What if you could move beyond the naysaying in your brain and embrace a different perspective? Challenge yourself! What do you dream of doing, of becoming? Play around with ways you can share your talents, your abilities, your knowledge and skills with others. Who knows? You just may find yourself turning your dreams into reality!

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening
That is translated through you into action,
And because there is only one of you in all time,
This expression is unique.

If you block it,
It will never exist through any other medium
And will be lost.
The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is:
nor how valuable it is:
Nor how it compares with other expression.
It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly,
To keep the channel open.

You do not have to believe in yourself or your work.
You have to keep open and aware and listen
To the urges that motivate you.”
–Martha Graham and Agnes Demille

Filed Under Featured, Finding Your Passion, Self Development Tagged With fulfillment, gifts, talents

Entrepreneurship: the Path to Ultimate Fulfillment

October 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

According to renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow, our unfulfilled needs make themselves known through feelings of restlessness: “the person feels on edge, tense, lacking something.” When we feel this way, we are motivated to act to fulfill those needs. This is what propels us to make changes in our lives and to seek greater fulfillment in the things we do.

Many of us have felt this kind of restlessness in relation to our jobs and the work we do. When you feel restless, tense, or on edge at work, it may be a sign that you’re not doing work that is fulfilling to you, that you are not self-actualized. Self-actualization is achieved when we are successfully fulfilling all of our needs.

Maslow created a hierarchy of needs “Hierarchy of Human Needs;” the basic needs like breathing, food, and water are on the bottom and self-actualization is at the top. In order to be completely fulfilled, one must achieve self-actualization. When this occurs, many positive characteristics emerge. People become more accepting of themselves, more spontaneous, self-reliant, and independent. They gain a stronger sense of integrity, as well as an increased zest for life and sense of humor. Creativity and curiosity increase, self-esteem improves, and people become more altruistic, humanitarian, socially responsible, and adaptable to change.

What I find most interesting about this list is that the majority of successful entrepreneurs I know embody these traits. By stepping out of the world of traditional employment, they became more self-actualized and, in turn, more able to handle the challenges of entrepreneurship.

“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves” – Thomas Edison

Filed Under Self Development, Starting a Business Tagged With Entrepreneurship, fulfillment, self-actualization

Finding Your Hidden Treasures

April 20, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Easter weekend I found myself remembering my children at 3 and 5 excitedly exploring the house for the colorful eggs and other goodies (plastic wind-up chicks, jelly beans in pick plastic wrap and the like) left by the elusive bunny. I loved watching the kids dash from place to place excitedly shrieking with glee when they discovered an egg or foil wrapped treat. The joy in their little faces at uncovering an unexpected goodie was a truly wondrous thing. Once the more obvious eggs had been located, the process evolved into a more serious hunt. Although the kids would diligently follow our suggestions of where to look, they were most proud and excited about the treasures they discovered on their own.

Finding fulfilling work is sort of like an Easter egg hunt. First you look at the obvious: what your education, skills and training qualify you to do and hope there is a match in the current market. When there isn’t, we need to look harder. Consider: How might your particular set of gifts, experience, and abilities benefit others? What talents do you possess that the world needs? Who needs your talents? This applies whether you are seeking employment or entrepreneurship.

We often discount our gifts; things that come easily to us, as not being marketable skills. Do you have a green thumb with plants? Are you creative in the kitchen? Do you tinker with cars or bikes on the weekends? Are you a movie buff that enjoys critiquing films? How might your interests, where your talents are often demonstrated, be applicable to the workplace? What are your transferable (non-occupational specific) skills?

I challenge you to look beyond your work history, your education, and your stated “qualifications”. Find those less obvious eggs and put them into your basket, err..search for fulfilling work.

Filed Under Finding Your Passion Tagged With Entrepreneurship, fulfillment, gifts, Passions, talents

On Becoming Entrepreneurial

February 5, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

In the U.S., we have been brought up to believe in the 40 hour work week being employed by someone else. There is of course another option; you can become an entrepreneur instead of an employee. Given current labor market conditions, being your own boss is mighty attractive. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. What do you love to do that you do really well? For instance, is it natural for you to be consistently on time, plan full and efficient? Do you like keeping your home or office neat and orderly, “a place for everything and everything in its place”? Do you get energized by this? If you answered yes to these questions, one of your transferable skills is being an organizer. Think about the many ways this talent and ability of yours can contribute to others. Don’t stop with one example, brainstorm until you identify at least five more things you really do well and enjoy doing.

2. Who needs what you have to offer? Once you’ve identified your skills, talents, and passions, it is time to determine where they may best be useful. Is there a need for whatever product or service you want to share with others? You may be the greatest cookie baker in three states but if there isn’t a need for a cookie store in your area it’s not a good idea to start a bakery. Consider all the life experience you’ve had, how might that be useful to others? How can you be of service in the world? Using your list of transferable skills from question number one will help you brainstorm some possibilities.

3. Is there someone else doing the kind of business you are considering? Identify those people and organizations. For instance, if you are thinking of doing a doggy daycare, see who else has one and check it out. Note what you like and don’t like about their advertising, facility, customer service, etc. How do they get customers? How might you approach your target customers differently? What might you improve on?

4. Is being self employed a right fit for your personality and lifestyle? If you’ve been an employee for years, you may find it challenging to switch your perspective to that of self bosser. It can be tremendously fulfilling to create you own business, work when, where and how you choose to, and not have to get someone else’s permission.

Are you ready to step into your power and put your talents to work?

Dee

www.careerlifecoaching.com

Filed Under Starting a Business Tagged With Entrepreneurship, fulfillment, gifts, talents