5 MORE SECRETS OF LUCKY JOB SEEKERS

Last week, I posted Five Secrets of Lucky Job Seekers. This week I give you Five More Secrets. Taken together, this gives ten ways to improve your chances of improving your luck in the job hunt. If you use all ten, you will get a job sooner, rather than later.

The short version of my story is that I know what you are going through as I once had a three-year stint of unemployment. As you now know, I kept busy. I also created new skills and broadened old skills. I will always consider these three years to be an amazing period in my journey through life. It was during this time that I found my dream job – coaching people to find their dream jobs and teaching job search skills.

It is also some of my darkest days. I felt lost and alone in an extended unemployment and seemingly, unable to get a job. I could find a job, many times “dream jobs” for everyone but me. What was wrong?

What was wrong is that I didn’t have me as a coach. I gave great advice. It was when someone (trying to be funny) said, “You need to coach yourself and take your own advice.” I did just that and got a training job within three months.

Below are my final five tips to imbue yourself with greater resiliency in your job hunt and that in turn will make you lucky. They do require a bit of work and persistence. All are winners in making you prepared, so you can be lucky.

“Luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” This statement by Oprah Winfrey still resonates with me. You can get the luckiest break in the world, but if you aren’t ready for it, it isn’t your lucky break.

6. Connect People Together
This is essentially networking. If you hate networking and are therefore, reluctant to do it, Get over it already. Here, in the 21st Century, employers are slow to hire. When they do hire, they want a sure thing. Someone they don’t know is not a sure thing. They are an “unknown quantity.” If Bob introduces you, you are still essentially unknown. However, they do know Bob and all his good qualities reflect back on you. That makes you more of a sure thing. That is why networking – works.

“If you know many different types of people, you will hear about many more opportunities,” Malcolm Gladwell says. “Sociability, energy, and openness breed luck.”

“Connectors” are sociable people who come across “lucky” situations because they are likeable and know very many people, according to Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. They’re essentially people who have mastered the art of networking. “Connectors” interact with big groups of influential people who have access to vital contacts and information. You don’t have to orchestrate a big social situation, but networking isn’t rocket science. All you need to do is be conscientious of other people and industry news. Send an e-mail about a news item to a new acquaintance or write a birthday card for your old boss. Simple. When networking, it’s the little things that count.

7. Be Optimistic
See the glass as half-full. To have the mindset of a “lucky” person, you must have an optimistic perspective of not just the future and your current situation, but of your past as well, says Matthew Smith, professor of psychology at Liverpool Hope University in England and co-author of a 1998 study on luck.

In this study, researchers found there was a positive correlation between considering oneself “lucky” and the propensity to remember more of the good things that happened to them rather than the bad. Smith found that when something bad happens to these “lucky” people now, they still think that even though it’s bad, the situation is better than the worst that could have possibly happened.

8. Stay Realistic
Now you’re connected, optimistic, spontaneous, and prepared. Woo hoo, lady luck is here! Not so fast. Literally. Patience and persistence are the keys to being a truly “lucky” person. Connections and relationships take time to build. Give them the time to grow and produce fruit.

If you’ve been negative, it takes time for people to realize and respond to the “new and improved” positive you. It takes time for you to develop a consistently positive approach to life. These changes take time. Give them time.

9. Have a Plan
Have a plan for your job hunt. Set realistic goals for yourself, like “At the job fair, I will introduce myself to someone who works at Citibank.” Or “I will make three new vital connections in the next month.” See my recent article for two approaches to goal setting.

The framework of your plan should be robust and set a clear direction. Within that framework, your goals should be adaptable to new situations in which you find yourself. I have a friend who has been out of work for a little over two years. He considered teaching high school science. He felt the year and a half of additional college work needed to add to his B.S. to get his teaching credential was “too long.” He could be teaching in September, if he had carried out his plan. He could have been flexible enough to take another job, if one had presented itself.

10. Assemble a Support Group
Create a group of people that you can rely upon to keep you upbeat and focused on a successful job hunt. I suggest adding a person who is also looking for your type of job to the mix. Make this person your “job search buddy.” Share job leads with each other. Go to job fairs together. Compare notes.

Help this person get a job. By helping this person get a job, you will get a job. Guaranteed.

You can do this. Job search is hard. If you let it, job hunting can suck your soul dry. The gentleman, Robert Mathis, in the newspaper article is quoted saying, “Finding a job is the hardest job you can do.” So true. Keep working your résumé. The only perfect résumé is the one that gets you a job. What works for one hiring manager, may not work for another. Go to your local career center for retraining. Sign up with a local temporary staffing agency, and volunteer. All these are proactive steps you can take.

Most importantly, find and do things that make you happy. Cook a meal, garden, take a walk or whatever else makes you happy. Remember, just as you are not your job title, you are not this situation. This is what is happening to you. You are still that great person with valuable skills you have always been. You can do this.

This Week’s Coaching:
1. Answer the following questions. Be honest with yourself.
• Are you prepared for opportunity?
• What else can you do to be better prepared?
• More prepared?
• Seek feedback on how others see your attitude and demeanor. Make sure your inner optimism is on display.
• Make a list, and every week add at least two people that you have connected.
• What have you done to make yourself happy?
• Do you have a job search buddy? Why not?

Let me know what is or is not working for you. What is the best tip someone ever gave you? What is the worst? Let me know, I care. Write to me at eal@ealcoaching.com. Thanks!

All things are possible,
Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund
Executive and Life Coaching
Telephone: 916 • 803•1494
E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com