Whether you are currently unemployed or secure in your job, a positive mental attitude is critical in job hunting. Your mental attitude will make a difference in how soon you find a job, what kind of job you are offered, and how much compensation you receive. Even if you follow all the advanced techniques explained in this book, you will be wasting your time in job interviews unless you have the right mental attitude. But if you enter every interview with a positive attitude, you will receive job offers that you never dreamed possible.
Now some of you reading this will say, "I'm not interested in any mental attitude hocus pocus." Let me tell you about George Y., a petroleum engineer whose positive mental attitude got him a job offer when there wasn't even an opening. George was able to speak on the phone to the divisional vice president of a large, independent petroleum producer.
The vice president, impressed by George's positive personality and attitude, invited him in for a talk, even though "the only opening we have now is for a geologist."
George maintained his positive mental attitude throughout a long interview. Two weeks later he was invited back to "meet some of our people." Not once was a job mentioned, and not once did George ask. But he maintained his positive attitude and demonstrated his natural enthusiasm for petroleum work and his interest in the company he was "visiting."Several days later George received a job offer. The company had decided that it needed a petroleum engineer more than it needed a geologist. What really happened, of course, was that management decided that a positive fellow like George was too good to pass up.
Be Prepared for the Hard Knocks of Job Hunting
No matter how good you are or what you have done in the past, you are going to suffer some hard knocks during your job-hunting campaign. Not all prospective employers (PEs) are going to like you, appreciate your talents, or understand your accomplishments just as you are not going to like or appreciate every PE you meet. But sometime during your campaign you will meet a PE whom you like very much. You will think yourself a perfect match for the company and feel that you will be able to do wonders for it. You will be disappointed if you do not receive a job offer. Be ready for such temporary setbacks. Like a good marriage, the perfect job match comes when both parties are totally convinced. You must be sure that it is an outstanding opportunity, and the company must be sure that you will do a superb job. In the interim you must maintain your positive mental attitude. Here's how to do it.
After a really super interview that you are certain will lead to an offer, get ready for the next interview with the next company. Tell yourself that you are going to have such a great interview that you will receive another offer to compare against the first. Then answer additional advertisements. See if you can raise your response-to-interview ratio by writing the "perfect" response. Try to beat your old record of number of calls to interviews. If it fits in with your campaign plan, send out additional sales letters or follow-up sales letters. Go over your old letter to iron out any mistakes. Finally, be confident that in the end you will achieve your objective and capture a truly superior job.
How To Use Your Resume to Develop a Positive Attitude
Even after you have developed a superior resume and are well into your job campaign, you should read over your resume every morning and evening. There are two reasons for rereading your resume so many times. First, as your campaign develops and you begin to interview; important items that you have forgotten will come to light.
You will want to include them in your resume. Second, by reading about your strong experiences, background, and accomplishments you will realize just what a tremendous catch you are. You really have a lot to offer. You are unique! You have a unique set of qualifications stemming from years of work or service at any number of vocations and avocations. As you reread your accomplishments, you will realize that by finding a superior job, you are rendering a service not only to yourself but also to that company fortunate enough to hire you. This knowledge will assist you in maintaining a positive mental attitude as you attend to everyday tasks and will ultimately lead to your accepting that superior position.
How to Avoid Negative Feelings During Interviews
The only way to avoid negative feelings during interviews is to maintain positive ones. Before you interview get to know both yourself and your PE. Find out everything you can about the job, the company, and the people you will meet. Think about how you would act in the job.
Imagine yourself in the environment of that company. Picture yourself as an employee there. The more you know about the company and the more you can imagine yourself working there, the less nervous you will be and the more positive an image you will project.
During your first few interviews you may still feel some nervousness. Don't worry about it. It will lessen with time. During the next few interviews you will find yourself improving your skill. You will get better and better. In fact, many job hunters end up enjoying interviewing so much that they miss it once they have accepted a position. They enjoy interviewing because it gives them a chance to show off certain "people skills" they have developed. It also gives them an opportunity to meet new people in their profession and learn about their industry and specialty. After all, many job-hunters enjoy the challenge of interviewing, of trying to get a PE to make them a job offer.
You may not believe it now, but you too may enjoy interviewing. In fact, you may like it too much. So a word of caution - Never become so overconfident or cocky in your interviews that you lose sight of your main purpose: to find a superior job.
The Secret of Dealing from Strength in a Job Campaign
On several occasions when I was in industry, I resigned from one job before beginning to search for another. But I never accepted a new job without a significant salary increase. One PE even commented during an interview: "Bill, I know you are unemployed, yet you act as if you had a million dollars. What's your secret?" My secret, which enabled me to deal from strength under any circumstances, was this: I knew my own strengths. I spent a considerable amount of time working on my resume, making sure I wrote down every useful and appropriate bit of experience in my background. Knowing my strengths and remembering my accomplishments gave me tremendous self-confidence. I knew that I was a unique individual who had much to offer to the company that hired me. I also knew my job goal. I knew exactly what position I wanted, the industry, the kind of company, the location, and the compensation. Because I knew my own strengths and experience, I was confident that I could do an outstanding job in the position I decided upon.
When I was a job hunter, I knew the company I was interviewing with. I studied the company's history, products, and financial position. I knew the backgrounds of some of the leading executives, including, if possible, the executive or executives I interviewed. In most cases I even knew why this company was seeking my services. I made it my business to learn as much as I could before the interview. As a result, I sometimes knew as much about the company, in a general way, as the executive who was doing the interviewing. Finally, I knew what the outcome of my campaign will be. I have seen many other executives, professionals, managers, and students find terrific jobs.
I knew that I was at least as good in my own field and was confident of my ability to find a great job, myself. I knew that in some way I was superior to all other job seekers for the same job.
I don't know whether you are confident or not. I do know that in your field of choice you too are superior over all of your competitors in some way. I know this from many years experience. I have never met a man or woman that I am not superior to in some way . . . however; I never met a man or woman who wasn't superior to me in some way too. The same is true for you.
