Our Attitude May Determine if We Land a Job in a Depressed Employment Market
In this current economy, it’s easy to become negative when one job interview turn-down leads to another. The job market is loaded with applicants all vying for a limited number of jobs. Employers are loaded down with literally thousands of applications lining their human resource department file drawers and the number of job postings in the newspaper and on the internet are disappearing as if Harry Potter himself is applying his magic.
Needless to say, it’s easy to be cynical, negative and even despondent when so many difficult signs are all indicating a no-win situation when it comes to finding a job.
Negativity is detrimental in just about any aspect of life, especially when it comes to searching for a job. When we get into a negative frame of mind, often-times developed from a pattern of turn-downs and failures, we start to doubt ourselves and to a degree become self destructive in our job search efforts. If we continue in our negativity, we will end-up becoming pessimistic, encumbered in a deep self-inflicted dilemma of despair and hopelessness. This negative attitude will greatly affect our ability to ever find a job and do us absolutely no good in all of our life-situations; especially our relationships.
We must look at things differently, we must focus on the positive and minimize the negative.
The reality is, as in all previous economic downturns, recessions and even the great depression, they all come to an end. Any economy is inherently cyclic by nature; when there is a sustained period of economic prosperity, it will usually always follow with a downturn or adjustment period and then eventually come back around to prosperity again.
This particular adjustment period happens to be more severe than others due to some unusual situations of greed and manipulation in our financial/housing markets and a confluence of congruent other factors. If we attempt to remember the fact that we are in a normal cycle and will soon experience a rebound, look toward all positive aspects and minimize the negative, we will be in a better position to make a difference in our attitude.
Our attitude hugely affects our personal success or failure, readjusting it will greatly assist us in maintaining a positive focus throughout the normal negative cycle we currently find ourselves in.
One tip, when looking for work and to help defray the negative emotions is the following. Keep in mind during this period of downturn it is entirely an employer’s market out there. The habits and methods of employers change with the change in the economy. Because of the vast number of job seekers out there, many employers are actually removing their job postings from the internet and the newspapers simply because they are experiencing a flood of applicants that’s becoming unmanageable for them. They may actually continue to have several good job openings, but they remain internal and not publically presented due to too robust a response to their ads. This limits the available opportunities to those willing to hit the streets getting out there face-to-face with potential employers. Employers are finding these applicants are turning out to be some of the most driven and reliable employees and are learning to reserve their openings for these individuals.
Remember, the U.S. economy is too diverse and large to simply go away. There are still numerous companies out there positioning themselves for the inevitable growth period that will follow sometime down the road. They are developing strategic business plans and preparing for a flood of new hires when the economy eventually make a resounding rebound.
When we assess at the overall picture this way, and learn a few tricks, we will develop a positive attitude and try more diverse ways to search for the work that is out there. That new attitude will actually have a tendency to become self-fulfilling in nature leading to the inevitable successful in the landing of that great employment situation.
Normally, employers can see right through a potential job hire, assessing a negative attitude a mile away. Even if someone has figured-out all the right things to say, their non-verbal expressions will easily give that person away. If the economy and job market are driving our attitudes towards the pessimistic side, it will come out in an interview.
Managers are also afraid a negative person will bring down the moral and attitude of others and the general company as a whole. Misery loves company as the old expression goes; depressed individuals tend to spread their disease looking for others to commiserate with. Hiring managers many times, are schooled to some degree in psychology, they look for these dynamics. Employers and their managers are looking for an employee who is self-confident, positive, self actualizing, helping to foster a common work environment that is productive and enjoyable.
In another tip for changing attitudes and improving the chance of a successful interview, consider the following. It’s important to become a solution-oriented person, not a problem elaborator. If a job interviewer asks a question regarding the reason an applicant left their last job or the problems they faced there, it’s best to capitalize on the opportunity to present a positive, solution-oriented person. This plays-out much better than being the negative, dissatisfied individual who answers the question with an opportunity to vent their frustration with typical responses as: “their co-workers were stupid,” “the boss expected too much” or “they hated the type of work they were doing.” The smart and solution-oriented person will cease the opportunity to talk about the problems they were responsible for finding creative solutions to while employed at the previous company rather than expound on the negative. This is the approach of a much more positive fix-it type of person who will become a positive team player . Managers actually see these type of employees as individuals who will making their job easier.
The mind is a powerful organ and self-fulfilling prophecy as a result of the mind’s power is a mysterious thing we need to be closely aware of. It can either bring us health or sickness, a good job or unemployment checks, prosperity or bankruptcy. With all else being equal as far as being qualified for a specific position, those wining-out over others in this tough environment are the ones willing to do their homework, put things in perspective and develop their attitude and character in every way to become a more positive, solution-oriented person.
Joseph Nino Rudolph
