One of the biggest mindset issues that clients come to me with is this idea of: “Nobody will want to hire me.”
It breaks my heart every time I hear this because I know they're wrong, but I also know how real that feeling feels. The problem is, when you’re looking for a new job or looking to make a career switch or you're simply struggling in your job search... you’re generally doing those things because you've become disheartened or lost your confidence in a job, or yourself, for other reasons that have knocked you down in the self-esteem arena.
Basically… you’ve forgotten that you're awesome.
I live in a really urban environment in San Francisco and when you’re driving around here looking for a parking space you become convinced you're never going to find one so then you pass up three perfectly delicious parking spaces.
If you are convinced that no one's going to want to hire you - then no one will want to hire you.
You need to remember why you are awesome. Your skills, your expertise, what it is you do that’s become second nature to you - after a while they don’t seem important. They don’t seem difficult. Yet, you have the power to ease some future employer’s major headache with the things you feel are easy (and therefore not valuable).
Those are actually the most important things, you've just started to see them as unimportant because they're easy for you - which is amazing.
There are 3 steps I recommend to address this mindset, because you need to step back and take a look to understand why people do want to hire you:
Step #1: You have to own your expertise
You need to take a look and analyze (however you want to do it, make a collage make a Venn diagram, make a flowchart…) the role responsibilities that are so second nature to you you could do them in your sleep.
The things that at one point, I assume, were more difficult for you or you're just one of those Lucky Bastards that this thing was always easy for. What are those things? That’s your expertise. Know what your expertise is and own it.
Step #2: Recognize your skills
Your expertise is the bigger general-responsibilities knowledge, skills are those real specific tasks.
Maybe it’s management training techniques, or a certain graphic design software, whatever it may be, recognize your skills. Include not only the tactical stuff, but also the soft skills like communication.
Write them all down - especially the ones that are second nature to you now because you did have learn them at some point. I'm assuming you didn't wake up at 10 years old and know how to use, you know, the entire Adobe suite of software. You had to acquire those skills somewhere along the way.
Step #3: Honor what makes you unique
I don’t mean this in the “We’re all special snowflakes” kind of way, but what makes you unique in a work setting.
What makes you, you? They don't need to know that you keep pet snails and make little hats for them for their birthday parties. I mean I guess that makes you unique, but is that going to help me in a corporate setting? Probably not.
But what makes you, you? Do you have a great, easy manner with people? Are you a great communicator? Are you a good listener? Are you a great mentor? Are you a quick learner? Do you understand concepts that other people just can't get?
What makes you, you? What makes you unique, but also don't down play that you make a mean chocolate chip cookie to bring in every Friday, that always helps!
From what truly makes you experienced in a work setting, to recognizing your skills and honoring what makes you, you - hopefully when you take a look at all these things you'll realize “Yeah! I AM awesome! and of course someone's going to want to hire me!”
And they’re going to want to hire you for specifically these reasons: your skills, your expertise what you do and how you do it.
So, if you are sitting there thinking to yourself “No one's going to want to hire me” - just take an hour to do this exercise, remind yourself that you are indeed awesome and go out there and apply for those jobs that you really want to get, the ones that you really, really, really, want because you. are. awesome.
You deserve that career and you can have it!
Yours in get that career goodness,
EBS
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EB Sanders
Career Coach for Creative Types
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Helping you figure out what you want to do and how to do it your way!
