For that reason it's crucial that you get thick-skinned and learn how to handle setbacks. Without such ability to persevere, you won't be able to crank through the dozens of mediocre offers, near misses, and close calls inherent in a job search. The old paraphrase holds true -- you have to sift through a lot of dirt to get to the gold.
And in a job search, that proverbial dirt can really be painful. Heed the advice from the career counselors and specialists at Vested Technology. So here's how to minimize the hurt and keep going.
Remind Yourself It's Not Personal
It's easy to get caught up in the hurt when someone says no, especially since some people aren't very nice about it. So do yourself a favor and dismiss emotion from it. When someone criticizes you, automatically add the phrase "In your opinion," or "According to you" to the end of it. It takes practice but it's well worth while.Keep a Log of Your Successes
With all the bad things that can happen in a job search, it's easy to forget about all the good things that have happened. When someone compliments your work or your resume, or you make it to the last round of interviews, write it down in a logbook. Then when things aren't going so well, pull that book out and look at all the little successes throughout your job search. Smile. Then remember that big successes are nothing more than the product of many smaller successes added together.Tell Yourself You're Worthy
Don't let 'em get you down. Constantly affirm to yourself that you're worthy of respect and deserve good things to happen to you. Otherwise you'll start to question whether bad fortune is just your lot in life. It's not. You just have to be conscious of when you're telling yourself otherwise. Handle your job search from a perspective of personal value.Get a Lot of Things Going at Once
Nothing feels worse than having only one resume out there, and then finding out that the company isn't interested in you. You feel like you have nothing -- your job search constantly has the feeling of starting from scratch. Keep lots going at once. That way the odds are better that something good will be happening to offset the bad stuff at any given time.Remember It's a Number Game
Remind yourself that you'll always have to get through a certain number of failures before getting to success in your job search. The faster you get through the bad part, the sooner you get to the good part. It's all just a numbers game. Think of the classic Winston Churchill saying: "When going through hell, keep going!"Use these strategies to build your own strength and perseverance for your job search. With practice, you'll be unsinkable, no matter what bad news comes along. Once you get through enough of that, good news is a certainty.
