My Fleep:
Career & Employment
Career & Employment
Job Search Paralysis
At times job search can feel like you're floating endlessly
in the middle of the ocean just waiting for any piece of
dry land (a.k.a., employer) to show up and rescue you. It
can be a very frustrating time that leaves you feeling
overwhelmed, disappointed and pessimistic. Negative
feelings you don't need to have hanging around you when
you're in job search mode – or anytime for that matter.
During this floating state you may keep looking out at the
horizon and sifting through questions like: Where will I
go next? Will I find a good employer? Will it be a good
fit? Why isn't anyone contacting me? Is my resume
dreadful? What do I really want to do anyway? You may
even begin to wish you could start over and get into a
completely new career altogether. This can bring up a
plethora of new, sometimes more, overwhelming questions and
can be a time that you think you're going to sink into job
search oblivion. Swimming around in job search circles,
going nowhere, can be an exhausting feat – and you may even
decide to float aimlessly (swamping the world with
resumes). Stop NOW! If any of these sound like you – or
any part of your job search, you must stop now and tackle
this aimless process.
Part of the reason that this aimless process takes place is
that you may realize that you are not sure if ‘what you do
for a living' is truly satisfying to you, or you may wonder
if your chosen career is your true calling. What you may
need, in this case, is to better define or perhaps even
redesign your purpose. The answer is not that you're a
failure at job search nor are you going to be stuck in
‘dead man's chest' – lost at sea forever. Sometimes you
must take a step backward to regain your positioning and
purpose around your career.
So how do you begin to navigate this quest? Creating a
vision for yourself that keeps your spirits alive during
your search and helps you tap into your inner motivation
can be a good place to begin. Remember, if top athletes of
the world can use ‘visioning' techniques to better their
game – so can you! Here is an example of a visioning
exercise that you can create for yourself:
Begin by envisioning being stuck in a dusty, sour-aired
building. You reach over to a window, pull the blind away
and slide the window open full and wide. Sunlight rushes
in and touches your face and at the same time a fresh,
crisp breeze engulfs you. You are no longer stuck, but are
infused with new ways of thinking and feeling about your
life and your career. The feeling that rivets through you
in this moment is a fresh, new, wide-open way of looking at
your choices in life. Keep this vision close by during
your job search and tap into its freshness and feeling of
ingenuity whenever you are lost and overwhelmed with the
process.
Next, begin to do a bit of self-coaching. In other words,
start asking yourself some pointed questions and journal on
those questions to get a better picture of who you are on
the inside. Because if you're going after a career that is
impressive on the outside, but does not tickle your fancy
and take your breath away on the inside, then the lack of
congruence can leave you feeling disconnected and
disappointed.
Here are some questions to journal on to get you started:
·What is it to have a full, rich life?
·What is it I am tolerating?
·What keeps me going?
·What is present when I'm at my best?
·What is it to be prosperous?
·What am I resisting?
Answering questions like these, along with tapping in to a
vision that keeps you inspired and motivated, as well as
some good coaching to discover what brings you fulfillment,
are all ways to begin to navigate job search paralysis and
set sail for your true north.
----------------------------------------------------
Robin Ogden has contributed her expertise in HR management,
recruiting and coaching in Silicon Valley for over 20
years. She is co-founder of FiredUP Careers, a career
counseling company for professionals who want to stay
aligned with their careers, achieve success without
compromising their life and truly dig what they do! Learn
more here => http://www.FiredUPCareers.com and
http://www.careeradvicetalk.com
At times job search can feel like you're floating endlessly
in the middle of the ocean just waiting for any piece of
dry land (a.k.a., employer) to show up and rescue you. It
can be a very frustrating time that leaves you feeling
overwhelmed, disappointed and pessimistic. Negative
feelings you don't need to have hanging around you when
you're in job search mode – or anytime for that matter.
During this floating state you may keep looking out at the
horizon and sifting through questions like: Where will I
go next? Will I find a good employer? Will it be a good
fit? Why isn't anyone contacting me? Is my resume
dreadful? What do I really want to do anyway? You may
even begin to wish you could start over and get into a
completely new career altogether. This can bring up a
plethora of new, sometimes more, overwhelming questions and
can be a time that you think you're going to sink into job
search oblivion. Swimming around in job search circles,
going nowhere, can be an exhausting feat – and you may even
decide to float aimlessly (swamping the world with
resumes). Stop NOW! If any of these sound like you – or
any part of your job search, you must stop now and tackle
this aimless process.
Part of the reason that this aimless process takes place is
that you may realize that you are not sure if ‘what you do
for a living' is truly satisfying to you, or you may wonder
if your chosen career is your true calling. What you may
need, in this case, is to better define or perhaps even
redesign your purpose. The answer is not that you're a
failure at job search nor are you going to be stuck in
‘dead man's chest' – lost at sea forever. Sometimes you
must take a step backward to regain your positioning and
purpose around your career.
So how do you begin to navigate this quest? Creating a
vision for yourself that keeps your spirits alive during
your search and helps you tap into your inner motivation
can be a good place to begin. Remember, if top athletes of
the world can use ‘visioning' techniques to better their
game – so can you! Here is an example of a visioning
exercise that you can create for yourself:
Begin by envisioning being stuck in a dusty, sour-aired
building. You reach over to a window, pull the blind away
and slide the window open full and wide. Sunlight rushes
in and touches your face and at the same time a fresh,
crisp breeze engulfs you. You are no longer stuck, but are
infused with new ways of thinking and feeling about your
life and your career. The feeling that rivets through you
in this moment is a fresh, new, wide-open way of looking at
your choices in life. Keep this vision close by during
your job search and tap into its freshness and feeling of
ingenuity whenever you are lost and overwhelmed with the
process.
Next, begin to do a bit of self-coaching. In other words,
start asking yourself some pointed questions and journal on
those questions to get a better picture of who you are on
the inside. Because if you're going after a career that is
impressive on the outside, but does not tickle your fancy
and take your breath away on the inside, then the lack of
congruence can leave you feeling disconnected and
disappointed.
Here are some questions to journal on to get you started:
·What is it to have a full, rich life?
·What is it I am tolerating?
·What keeps me going?
·What is present when I'm at my best?
·What is it to be prosperous?
·What am I resisting?
Answering questions like these, along with tapping in to a
vision that keeps you inspired and motivated, as well as
some good coaching to discover what brings you fulfillment,
are all ways to begin to navigate job search paralysis and
set sail for your true north.
----------------------------------------------------
Robin Ogden has contributed her expertise in HR management,
recruiting and coaching in Silicon Valley for over 20
years. She is co-founder of FiredUP Careers, a career
counseling company for professionals who want to stay
aligned with their careers, achieve success without
compromising their life and truly dig what they do! Learn
more here => http://www.FiredUPCareers.com and
http://www.careeradvicetalk.com