Career Change Commitment: Hunting for jobs take a lot of work. It is easy to let up and let opportunities slip away. Finding a job is a business. Even when business is slow, you can act to increase your success of finding the job you deserve. Here are some things you can do during a lull in activity.
The Steps to Career Change Commitment
- Stay Connected
- Become a Resume Expert
- Gain Access to Power Players
- Read Career Books
- Expand Your Skills
- Build an Attitude for Success
- Protect Your Health
- Focus on Action
Stay Connected
Speak and write to your friends and business connections to let them know that you are still actively seeking a new opportunity. Each time you connect, thank them for their support and let them know that you welcome their support with referrals and job listings.
Become a Resume Expert
Make your resume tighter. Reduce the accomplishments in older jobs and increase the list of accomplishments in recent jobs. Revise the objective of your resume to match the job for which you are applying. Even if you use a resume writer, you must know whether your resume is effective to meet your needs for applying for specific jobs. Ask everyone you trust in your job search to review your resume for effectiveness. Recruiters should be able to help you review your resume for jobs where they are referring you.
Gain Access to Power Players.
Work on the quality of your first-degree network. In many cases, there is nothing wrong to building a huge network. As your network grows, you have the power of audience reach. However, within your close network you must have the people who can empower you for success.
Specifically, build your database with people who have relationships in the industry and at companies where you want to work. Being to make a direct application to an employer is far better than applying through a job board or a membership site.
Just knowing that you are connected with people who can help you create optimism for career change commitment.
Read Career Books
The most successful people become experts in their career. Likewise, the most successful people increase their potential for success with a lifetime of learning. As you go through your career move, you can empower yourself to perform each step as a well-informed professional.
Reading can help you become more interested in what you are doing in your career search and maintain your career change commitment.
Expand Your Skills
There are YouTube videos on nearly every subject imaginable. With the Internet, you can take college courses without leaving your home. Skills seminars and meetups can help you learn new skills as well as expand your network. LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, Quora and other social media websites offer groups and forums to help you find answers for developing your skills. Some websites offer free subscriptions to articles on skills development. YouTube is especially helpful to show you how to advance your skills.
What you learn from these videos can get you excited about finding a new job.
Build an Attitude for Success
There is so much information on creating a healthy, productive attitude. My first exposure to creating a more powerful attitude came from reading the Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. Later, I found that listening to Zig Ziglar tapes help me feel more comfortable and confident about everything in my life. For most of my career, I have used forms of meditation to quiet my mind and think more clearly. This practice helps me understand and respond more intelligently to the people in my life.
A simple step to a better attitude is to avoid negative people and spend time with people who will help you feel motivated and positive throughout your career.
A powerful attitude can motivate you to be more aggressive and active in your career move.
Protect your Health
You are your greatest asset. Eat healthy. Get daily exercise. Sleep well. You will have more energy to work on your career. With that energy comes a clearer mind that leads to better decisions. Remember that the body in which you live is the same vehicle in which you achieve success.
A healthy body is a natural first step to an engaged mind and developing the energy for action.
Focus on Action
Focusing on your difficulties in finding a job will not help. It can discourage you from working on your career search. You build success by seeking and acting on solutions not focusing on problems.