Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


 

 

Informative Articles

Handling Strange Interview Questions
In this week's job searching tip, we address an inquiry from a subscriber about an interviewer asking strange questions. As we discuss in this tip, persuading an interviewer to hire you often requires taking the initiative to find out what their...

How to Prepare for University Life
It is almost time for people who are pursuing higher education to return to their academic careers. Post-secondary education, such as College or University can be a difficult transition for many, who are living away from home for the first time....

Jobs & The Hidden Job Market
Another morning of job hunting lies ahead of you. You pour a cup of coffee and open the paper to the employment section. With a mixture of anticipation and desperation you pick up a stub of pencil and prepare to target and identify some possible...

Three Myths About Resume Writing
THREE MYTHS ABOUT RESUME WRITING By Ruth Anderson VANTAGE POINT Coaching & Consulting Your perspective on resumes – what they are and how they function – will doubtless influence how well you can write your own. To create an outstanding resume,...

Turning Their Loss Into Your Job Gain
Turning Their Loss Into Your Job Gain Copyright 2004 It isn’t the end of the world, even if it seems like it. Losing your job can be a heart-breaking experience. After all, your security in life and your abilities is now in question. You can feel...

 
Google
Unemployment Blues: Talk To Yourself



There is always a debate about whether daily affirmations work - the kind of uplifting statements you repeat to yourself in the mirror each morning.

I find a more effective way to improve your mood and self-esteem is to create your own positive scripts for regular re-reading and study. On those days when you're really down on yourself and think that you're a failure, immersing yourself in a book crammed with notes about your qualities and accomplishments can restore your balance, brighten your spirits, and re-energize you for the rigors of the job hunt.

Keep a notebook close by and jot down every little success you've ever had. List your personal characteristics, work and non-work successes, little things you've done that made you feel proud. Record what other people have said to you as compliments or in gratitude. Note any awards or trophies you've ever won.

Describe your accomplishments, big and small: completing a difficult class, learning how to bowl or play a decent round of golf, teaching your teenager how to drive a


stick shift, losing that last 10 pounds. No one reaches adulthood without a long string of successes along the way but we tend to discount them because our emotions are engaged by our failures, the "ones who got away."

Keep adding to your book of positives as you think of more and more accomplishments (the list will grow, the more you think about it). On the days when you think your value to the world is zero, take out your book to remind yourself of your own worth. The world is a better place due to all of our collective efforts so give yourself an emotional pat on the back.







About the author:

Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers' Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://www.unemploymentblues.com