Zombie walks, corn mazes, trick-or-treaters - all of these things we are going to see very soon on Tuesday. Adults and children wearing costumes will be pretty much everywhere collecting candies door-to-door. Despite the entertaining events and all of the fun, many find this holiday quite scary. Halloween decorations freak some people outputting trick-or-treating out of questions. But while for some parents overcoming Halloween fears and aversions of their children has become a routine reality, many others have fun celebrating All Hallows' Eve. But as some are struggling with their fears, we thought it would be a nice idea to help job seekers confront their job search fears. Below you will find some helpful tips on how to deal with your fears of job hunting and what to do if you are stuck unemployed.
No More Job Search Fears!
One of the most difficult things people usually keep running away from is honest self-evaluation. Before sending your resume to companies that have positions open you first have to understand what is it that you are pursuing. Being honest with yourself is crucial as it will have a long-lasting effect on you how you will perform in the future. Just like children know which houses will offer the best candy for them so do job seekers have to know what they want to do in their career. If you don't have any career goals then it means you simply are afraid of being honest with yourself about your professional development. This is the number one fear to confront if you want your job search to be more successful: know what you want and make a plan on how to get there. By doing so you will be able t save time and not apply for jobs that don't fit your career goals and concentrate on those opportunities you are truly interested in. Without knocking to doors, it is very likely you will be left to fewer candies as opposed to those who go door-to-door with famous trick-or-treat request. In other words, kids have to be proactive and reach out to others in order to receive what they want.
The same principle works in a job search. You have to be proactive and open up to others in order to get to as many job opportunities as you possibly can. However, reaching out to your friends and colleagues (an essential component of any effective job search campaign) is a problem for many job seekers. They have a hard time talking to people about employment and especially asking for a favor in regards to job opportunities. However, networking is the most effective tool and cannot be ignored by those who seriously seek for a job. Maybe the fact that most jobs are not posted at online job boards will help you overcome your fear and reach out to your network of contacts as it is the only chance to tap the hidden job market. Also, it is important to understand that you don't have to ask your friends or family members for job interviews right away. Instead, start slow and just talk about job leads and job opportunities your friend has in mind for you...
Some are afraid to change jobs even though they admit that their present employment is nothing but a nightmare. A new team or new supervisor can be a snake pit. As a result, they stay and suffer rather than try to find a new job that will help realize all of the potential fearing that a new place will bring more trouble than the present one. The thing is that people can actually know with a high level of certainty what awaits them at a new workplace. If you take time to research the prospective company though and its supervisor, you can rid yourself of this ridiculous fear. In fact, you can know more than you think about your prospective employer. Even if you research social media as well as other open sources online, you can get enough information to understand what kind of company you are dealing with. It's just a matter of how deep you want to dig in because you can go further than that and learn of the company culture and values from the words of its employees.
Another thing candidates often fear is rejection. Halloween is the time when trick-or-treaters are rarely (if ever) rejected. Pretty much everybody who knocks on a door will receive candies along with lots of nice wishes. However, when it comes to real life issues people hear 'no' way more often than kids do on a Halloween. It is especially true of job seekers who time after time send out their resumes and never hear anything back (which is often even worse than hearing a 'no'). As a result, many feel discouraged believing others are simply more qualified and quit trying hard... But rejection shouldn't lead you into this trap; instead, it can make you a stronger candidate. Analyze your weaknesses and strength, think about how you can focus on your strong points and advantage and bounce back stronger! Don't let rejection pull you down; think about how it can make you stronger.
Employers Also Have Fears!
Lastly, make sure you don't scare employers off. Employers also have fears regarding candidates. They question themselves whether a candidate will be a good fit, will he/she be able to do the job efficiently, how will one interact with other team members, etc. One of the things employers do to select candidates is to check out candidates online. They do it to make sure they invite only those candidates whom they can seriously consider for the opening. You may be surprised but some job seekers post pretty weird photos and status updates that do scare prospective employers off. So if you are serious about your job search, make sure you clean up your online profiles, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Any embarrassing content can be a red flag and you may be disqualified from the competition. The rule of a thumb is to never put anything online that you wouldn't want to come across on the newspaper's front page.
