Difficult Job Search? 5 Things You Should Never Forget

Don't let an extended job search keep your spirits down. Almost all of us have been through it before. There is not much else that can cause you to lose faith in yourself than trying to find a job and not having success. You know how it goes, "Don't call us, we'll call you". Hearing that kind of rejection  over and over again can be soul crushing.

It's important to keep the process in perspective and not allow minor setbacks to derail your self-esteem and your purpose. When you're feeling down, it helps to remember some simple truths that even the best of us forget from time to time.

Everyone is in business for themselves - Even if you aren't an entrepreneur, you are still in business for yourself. When you are working for a large business, you are still marketing yourself. In essence, you are selling a portion of your life for a set price to an employer. Accepting this truth will help you think about work and job hunting differently. One of the key points in your job search should be developing your marketing strategy and selling yourself to employers.

No one is a complete failure or a complete success - Even when you feel like a complete screw-up, you have to remember that no one is a complete failure or a complete success. When you look at the richest people in the world, you'll see a track record of failures almost as big as the successes. Knowing this, it's easy to see how silly it is to strive for perfection. Instead, take each failure as a lesson and move on as quickly as possible. Understand that we are most successful at the things to which we devote the majority of our time and energy.

You don't have to like what you do to be good at it - Many people are really good at things they don't enjoy. Having a job that you don't love isn't the end of the world. If you're good at it and earn a nice living, look for fulfilment elsewhere. Things like volunteering with a group you are passionate about or working to improve your community can fill that hole in your life and make your work happiness less important. Not everyone can live their passion, and what's more, not everyone would want to. Turing your hobby into a career is great, but what no one talks about is how it changes the nature of the hobby. Now, instead of doing it for fun, you're doing it for money.

Don't make decisions based on emotions - When faced with a challenge, don't let your emotions cloud your intellect. Think things through before you make a decision. When you base your choices on emotion, you aren't actually making a choice - you're simply reacting.

When opportunity knocks, you'll never be completely ready - Having a new opportunity in your path is equal parts scary and exciting. No one thinks they are completely ready to take on a new challenge and the truth is that you'll never know until you jump in. Don't let fear keep you from moving forward. Thinking that maybe you're not ready or that maybe you'll fail is the sort of thing that prevents personal growth.



What other things do you think are important to remember? Please share your thoughts in the comments.