Motivation During a Job Hunt - How to Stay Motivated While Looking For a Job

"A downturn is really the time to prepare for the inevitable upswing!"

Staying motivated when things aren't going the way we'd like can be challenging. Recently someone left me a note on my blog asking me how can they stay motivated while looking for a job. After thinking it over, I came up with the above quote.

I learned about what lies at the heart of this quote while I was a basketball player and once I became a basketball coach this theory was one to live by. When you're two or more points down in the game is when you have to really prepare for the tide to turn. You have to tap into your preparation resources and strategize to swing things your way. Sometimes you may still lose the game, but you can take heart that you were well prepared for the opportunity to win and then move on to the next game. This analogy of bring in a game, experiencing a downturn and being adequately prepared fits many different times in our lives, but especially when one is looking for a job in a saturated market.

Losing anything can make us feel like we're no longer in control of our lives, and this is especially true when we lose a job. So I suggest that you get to work. I mean get to work on yourself and those things that are in your immediate control. For example:

--> Polish up your resume. I mean really polish it up. Send it to a resume makeover specialist and get that baby to shine!

--> Decide if you want to continue to work in the same field or change career paths. Examine your life's purpose and mission statement for indicators that your interests may have shifted. If you don't have a written purpose and mission statement do some research on how to and get to writing!

--> Research the industry and company that you're interested in. What's the culture in the specific company you're interested in? You should know more about the industry or company than the person you're going to interview with. (the internet makes this very very easy to do)

--> Try to find out something about the person you're interviewing with. Today the movement is towards authentic connection and more transparency.

--> Use social networking to your advantage. Yes, you'll have lots of time on your hands and you should devise a schedule that will have you doing part of your job search on the net. On the net, be vocal about your job search. Ask for leads from peers. Be sure to use Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin to create free profiles. On Facebook and Twitter you can even search for companies that you're interested in and begin to engage with them socially but remember to be subtle. There are lots of articles and tips on blogs out there about how to use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to your advantage.

--> Learn from others. A great site that will give you inspiration and further insight about job hunting is howigotmyjob.com. Real people sharing real stories about how they got their job.

--> Give yourself an attitude makeover. Yes, losing your job stings your pocketbook and it can definitely deflate your attitude. This is the time to make attitude adjustment your top priority. Spend at least 15 minutes a day reading articles or a book that are all about keeping the right attitude that will help you move forward.

These tips will help you stay motivated and keep you focused on moving forward as you attract the job that will fill your pockets and give you fulfillment in you quest to live your dreams.

Denise is the creator of The Motivated Mindset System. She also offers free weekly teleseminars, as well as online courses with a workshop environment to help you achieve you create, transform and thrive in your life and your biz!

Get your free report "5 Tips for Staying Motivated" at http://www.increaseyourmotivationmojo.com

New Ways to Brag About Yourself While Job Hunting

The web is constantly changing, we all know that. What most of us don't do is change with it. You need to go further than just sending in resumes if you want to compete for jobs. There are now plenty of new ways to promote yourself. For one, networking has gone online. Join social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Next, talk about yourself. If you're not telling people how awesome you are, no one else will. Brag it up. Here are some ideas on how to use new media.

Blog It

Once again, BRAG. You need to toot your own horn. Get started by blogging about yourself and your job experience. Make yourself interesting. It doesn't need to be all in one post. Make several posts. And this is a great format to go beyond the resume and cover letter. Include information that is generally left off of resumes. I once interviewed for a job at a HUGE email company. Turns out I got an interview not from what my resume said, but because I had lived somewhere the interviewee's best friend had once lived. Random? Yes. Did I care? No. The point is, you never know what about you is going to spark that employer to give you a call for an interview. Talk about travel, random jobs, or volunteer experience. Some rules to stick to: stay away from obscene topics, try not to be offensive. Think of it as a first date. Don't discuss politics, religion or past relationships.

Twitter

Love it. Set up a Twitter account, after all it's free. Start following job posters, job advice gurus and online resume builders. (*wink wink*) Create lists of job posters and go through their job postings daily to see what job offerings are out there. Listen to the advice of the gurus. You could learn something new that could be the key to your next interview. The great thing about Twitter is that it is a community. Most people are pretty supportive of you. Don't be afraid to let people know you're looking for a new job. If you have a personal Twitter account, make sure you are keeping things PC while you are job hunting. You may need to go through and clean up some old posts.

URL

Get your name as a website address and upload your resume. Don't do anything fancy like adding music. (Unless of course you're an unemployed musician or related field.) This is a great way to brand yourself. Another idea is to add a link to "other jobs" if you're resume does not list all your job experience. It is O.K. as well to upload a picture of yourself. Always play it safe. If you question whether or not it's appropriate, it probably isn't. Add the URL to your email signature or business cards. If you're out a networking meeting and pass out your business card, it will be easy for others to look up your resume for potential job openings.

Don't forget it's easy to update your resume at CreateBetterResumes.com. You can download your resume in multiple formats for easy upload to your new website. If you're still unsure of how to get started there are tons of great books out there you can get on promoting yourself online. The best thing to do is to just get started.

Rebekah Cockrell is a Community and Marketing Manager for http://www.CreateBetterResumes.com. http://www.CreateBetterResumes.com was founded with the purpose of making it easy for everyone to have a compelling results driven resume using our signature phrase building technology.