Boost the effectiveness in your job search

As part of my occasional series, I have another aspect of job search that often gets overlooked. Reality is most people looking for a new job are already in some type of personal transition – trying to adjust to experiences that are ending, and with their new situation yet to be established. This can be a consequence of planning to leave a job or already having left the job and readjusting to what’s changed (e.g. spending more time at home).

Managing your Transition

I believe transition gets ignored because of the hyper-focus on better networking, improving your LinkedIn profile, creating an eye-catching resume and interview performance.

It’s well established that transitions make us unfocused, often to the point of disorientation. Failure to manage a transition effectively will be an obstacle when it comes to being fully focused on the job search and representing yourself at your best.

Here is where a coach focused on you, rather than a 10 step job search process, can really help. I find that working towards a focused, positive mindset improves the quality of every other aspect of the job search.

Questions

Here are some typical questions that I might ask to enable this process:

·     What is changing/has changed recently in your world? Simply understanding this can help clients realize why they are finding it hard to focus. There are many strategies to apply once you have that awareness.

·     How much choice do you have? The more you feel you lack choices in the job search process, the more defensive you are likely to feel.

·     What negative emotions are you carrying? Maybe there’s a legacy from your last job – the stronger this emotion, the greater the likelihood it shows up in your writing and in person.

·     How can you shift the emphasis of your thoughts to you at your best? Find positive examples to share with friends and family (and then beyond).

·     If you could leave one thing behind that seems to be holding you back, what would happen? Seeing beyond perceived obstacles is powerful.

Trying to find a new job can be challenging enough without being unknowingly held back by your experience of the transition. It’s my observation that proactively managing your transition maximizes your chance of success.

If you know someone who needs help bringing their best to a job search, please share. paulgaskell@onnupcoaching.com

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