Habits to Help Your Job Search
- Skipping your workout: Exercise, even just going for a walk or a yoga class, raises your endorphins and makes you more alert. This means you’ll be happier, more optimistic, and more “on your game” for interviews, etc. Exercise also leads to a lot of confidence, which translates into your body language.
- All work and no play: It should be a priority for everyone to carve out time for what you enjoy. This can be anything from reading a book to doing a favorite craft, or any other hobby that brings you joy. Folks who don’t make time for fun and relaxation are more stressed out, and it can come across to people. If you’re more relaxed, hiring managers will see that too.
- Constant complaining: Complaining rarely leads to results. Remember that the more you complain, even just to yourself, the more you reinforce negativity. Try your best to be positive, and take any challenges that come as lessons to do better next time.
- Being too hard on yourself: Remember that this is a process, and not everything is going to be a slam dunk. As I mentioned in the last bullet, take any mishaps as learning opportunities. No one is perfect, so remember to cut yourself a break and keep on going.
- Selling yourself short: Just because you don’t have every single bullet point in a job description, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. If you have a lot of what they’re looking for and you’re motivated to learn and grow, apply with enthusiasm. It never hurts to try!
Recent Posts
“Never let the challenges you face in life defeat your spirit…be a leader by your actions, by your words, define your dream…make it happen no matter what the hurdles or obstacles may be”
Challenges can provide opportunities for demonstrating leadership. When these moments arise, planing and acting on your goal displays leadership. As doctor Robert S.D. Higgins observed in his commencement address to Skidmore College : Never let the challenges you...
“Whatever you choose for a career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”
No matter what course you choose in your professional life, there will be challenges to face and overcome. These obstacles may be trying when in their midst, but the test strengthens you. As the renowned actor Chadwick Boseman imparts during his 2018 commencement...
Intention and the Right Actions: Exercise
Exercise is the focus of our second tip for our Intention and the Right Actions series and how a little time for fitness can help you arrive at work feeling confident and comfortable. CEO Amy Becker reflects: "In life, there is so much that you can't control and that...
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
Positive changes to the world or even just in your office needn't require complex exteral solutions, they just need you to imagine something better and act on it. As J.K Rowling observed to Harvards Graduating Class of 2008 observed: We do not need magic to change...
Intention and the Right Actions: Morning Pages
The focus of the first tip of our Intention and the Right Actions series if to practice some form of what the author Julia Cameron calls 'morning pages.' The idea is to get down onto paper the different things that cross your mind to help you organize yourself and...
“Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it.”
Take pride in your work. When you really enjoy what you do it shows and changes how colleges and clients relate to you. As Maya Angeleou once observed: Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it....
“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.”
Speak with everyone the same way, respectfully. Whether you are the CEO of an organization or an intern arriving on your first day, showing respect is a good way to earn it and help establish a collaborative work environment. As Albert Einstein once observed: I speak...
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Leadership roles require making decisions when the right choice is not always clear and the cost of inaction while you consider the matter is too great. Reflecting on such times, former President Theodore Roosevelt observed: In any moment of decision, the best thing...
Intention and the Right Actions
Whatever your professional goals. If you act on the belief that you can do it and take the right actions, then there is little you cannot do. But what are the 'right actions' and what is meant by 'acting on the belief that you can'? When you commit yourself towards a...
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
It can be difficult to respond to situations at work on-the-fly. The only cure to ease such situations is proper preparations, for as Benjamin Franklin once observed: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. - Benjamin Franklin - Today's quote brought to...
“Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after having an experience with you becomes your trademark.”
There is more to you than a resume and it's important that prospective employers get to see beyond your bullet-point points. As the motivational speaker and blogger Jay Danzie observes: Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave...
Schedule Sleep and Exercise
When we think of personal changes, we can make to improve our performance at work, it is easy to focus on skill development. While developing one's public speaking skills, management strategies and software fluencies are essential, don't forget the importance of...
“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”
Negative feedback can be challenging to hear, and it is easy to get defensive. This is especially true when you invested a great deal of time and energy into something. Try collecting feedback in the planning and early stages of a task or project, before you've...
“Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals and then work toward them every day will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor”
It is easier to work towards a goal when the steps leading to it are clear. Try setting each day and week week with specific goals that you can work towards. As the motivational speaker Brian Tracy observed: Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals and...