Social Media & YOU!
August 23, 2009 by Darlene McDaniel
Filed under Jobs
You are such a critical piece in the success or failure of your job search. I have been writing and talking about Social Media & Your Job Search for the last few days. This is part 4 of my series and it is time for me to talk about YOU. I mean it! If you are frustrated, angry or bitter, your job search will go no where! You can be the best at connecting to people in person or via the world wide web, but if your attitude stinks, forget it!
If you are not interested in connecting with others to advance your job search, you will not move forward and you will not be successful. Let me rephrase that, you will not have a successful job search – hence you won’t get a job and you will continue to spin your wheels in frustration.
I met a very nice man yesterday who is struggling to get a job. He believes the reason he is not getting a job is because of the vocation he has chosen. He believes that the times are bad and the competition is stiff, so he won’t get a job. I don’t believe that. I believe anyone can get a job in this market. Will everyone get a job in this market? Probably not, but I do believe that anyone can get a job. How, you might ask me? “You don’t know my situation!” I don’t know your situation, you’re right. But it is not about your situation, it’s about you and your stinking thinking! As I have said so many times before, “if you think you can’t, you’re right!” IF YOU don’t think you can get a job in this market, you’re right. And nothing I say or do will changed your fixed belief.
YOU are the most critical component of your job search. Social Media/Social Networking are tools available to you to help you successfully navigate the hiring process and land a job, but if YOU have issues (and we all do to some extent), than YOU will become the obstacle in your way more than any hiring manager or previous employer who doesn’t or didn’t like you.
Here’s my point - Change your attitude about YOURSELF. Decide that YOU are the best thing since sliced bread and ACT like it. And if you’re not the best thing since sliced bread, than get to changing so that you can get out in this market and impress an employer who needs your skills abilities. If you listen to “bad tapes” about who you are and what you can bring to an organization, EJECT the tapes and put some new ones in. Be honest with yourself. If you got fired or let go, take some time and assess what happened. What can you do differently in the next opportunity so that getting fired or laid off is not your portion in the next job. Does it mean you won’t ever get fired again? Nope! But you can certainly position yourself so that it becomes difficult for the employer to let you go. And if they do, there must be something else you should be doing.
YOU are the product that you are selling to people. Get yourself in front of people and start selling. Get yourself connected through some of the social media tools available to job seekers and start connecting. And here’s a news flash for you. Get yourself out there and start helping others! The biblical principle of “reaping what you sow” is also a universal principle. It is real whether you believe it or not. Just like the times have changed and getting a job like we did two years ago is very different today, whether you believe it or not. Put your best foot forward, let go of anger, bitterness, frustration and choose to enjoy the process of connecting with people by any means necessary and watch the doors open!!
Image Credit: sxc.hu
Darlene,
Awesome post. Let me tell you why as I know I have said this before, but the essence of what you said is so focused and true. People have a bad attitude when it comes to looking for a job. As things move, good or bad, the outcome is greatly effected by one’s outlook and view of themselves. When that outlook is bad, or that internal image is broken, a person can become negative and unattractive to employers looking for great talent. Companies are hiring – simply put. They are just being more selective and not dropping their standards, they are raising them. So anything that could be seen as a negative is looked up on and then dismissed causing average candidates to not get positions. Great people are working – the key is to make yourself a great person.
Hey Jason! Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comment. I love your comment “Companies are Hiring”. They are hiring and I am convinced that 90% of the people who are struggling to get employed need to first look in the mirror, than make some adjustments, and then develop a plan and go execute it.
I always appreciate your visits to bizzia Careers! Have a great night!
Darlene
I am in total agreement with you. Companies are hiring, people are doing well even in this economy, but the way people approach the search has such an effect on the results. It is hard to get people to look at their own persona being a part of the problem – as they want to point fingers vs. looking internal. Coach them one at a time and the people that do get it will do well. Thanks for a great blog!