The right attitude
In June, I wrote a blog about Staying Positive. It was focused on a few things you can do to internally stay positive – because staying positive is one of the most important aspects to keeping your job search on track. But today’s blog is about how your attitude sets you apart when looking for a new job.
The right attitude is a positive, enthusiastic and confident attitude. This is what will stand out to a new employer. Employers are not going to look highly upon someone who appears beat down by their situation. They are going to go for the upbeat candidate. And even if someone is not negative, it’s easy to read negative subtleties through conversation or email.
Example:
“How are you doing?”
“Doing OK. Still looking for a job. Things are pretty tough out there.”
This may or may not be a negative person - but that response sure sounds negative. While it may be true that the person is still looking for a job, and true that things are tough out there, this sets the wrong tone. Especially with a potential employer.
Here are a few suggestions to help keep the right attitude:
Sanity Check: Do you know what kind of attitude you are presenting in your verbal and written communications? If you are not sure, ask someone. Find an objective person you trust, and show them your written communications to potential employers. You can take it as far as doing a mock interview to see how you come across verbally. Then see what they have to say. It’s pretty hard to judge yourself.
Don’t Be Daunted: Let’s say you hear about a job fair. The “bad attitude” approach is to assume “there will be too many people and too few jobs – so I’ll just stay home”. The good attitude would say, “there may be a lot of people at the job fair, but I will still be increasing my chances of finding a job by getting out there. So I’ll give it shot!”
It’s easy to let external circumstances get you down. But getting down will only further hurt your chances of finding the right job. So do you best to minimize the impact of any downers and strive to keep that positive, enthusiastic and confident attitude.
