How do you stay focused and positive after a year? March 24, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in 1.Tags: attitude, career, career search, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting
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Well I have been unencumbered by employment now for 1 1/2 years. I have heard of people giving up, I have heard of people changing careers, I have heard of people loosing focus and taking anything, I have heard of people that have gone from focus to the shotgun approach.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures. Do they really? Or is that a cop out statement?
When they talk about people over 40 they always mention career transition like after 40 you have to seek a new career. What was wrong with the one I was in? It is still around and I still like the work so why do I have to transition?
I might be an enigma. I have worked in the same industry for a number of years. I still have a lot I can contribute. I still have the time to do it also. I really like my industry because it is constantly changing and you get to learn new things all the time. I have worked with some great people and I have worked with some real pain the asses.
I have hired people and I have fired people. It was just part of the job.
They tell you in these times to surround yourself with positive people who will support you. People who have been out this long have a hard time staying focused and being positive. I have my ups and downs but I try hard to have more ups than I do downs. When you start having a down day it can drag you down fast. You have to be aware and not let that happen.
How do you stay focused? I know what I want to do. I know that I can do it very effectively. I know there is a position out there for me. I just have to find it . So I keep looking for it and nothing else.
I know I have hurdles that I have to overcome. Knowing what these are gives me the advantage to address them in positive ways. This allows me to stay focused and up beat because I know that I can jump these hurdles with ease.
Staying positive is hard especially after all this time and then loosing my last 2 extensions because I worked a part time gig for a friend of mine. I have stopped watching TV there was nothing worth watching anyway except maybe the DIY and NAT GEO channels. Not listening to bad news everyday helps you stay positive. I would get my information online in daily emails from the business journals and the tech wires. This allowed me to be selective on what I read especially if it related to my industry. I could see if my target companies received a contract or bought another company or merged with someone. It kept me informed with what really mattered.
Getting into discussions and answering questions on LinkedIn helped a lot for me to stay positive because it provides a sense of worth. Especially when you get voted best answer or someone in a discussion gives you kudos for your part.
Writing this blog helps me stay positive as it has been my hope to help others who are job seeking. I have received good feedback from other seekers thanking me for it.
I guess what it really comes down to is the person character. Do they have the discipline to keep themselves focused and upbeat when the world is crumbling around them? Do they have that dogged determination required to go the distance to achieve what they desire or are they going to throw in the towel and take what ever and be miserable until something better comes along?
If you have been unemployed for a year or more please tell me here what you have done and what you do to keep focused and keep going. I would like to know and I am sure it may help others who read this blog.
Job seeking from a hunters perspective Blog 
I have now been unemployed for 1 year, 3 months, and 3 weeks. I can’t believe it! I have good skills (graphic design) have been a manager, and have a degree. NO JOB. Since New Year’s, I did manage to get two interviews but neither one worked out. Lately, I have been applying for literally ANYTHING.
You know, I wasn’t too worried the first few months, but now that a year has come and gone I am beginning to panic. I think my unemployment runs out next month and I honestly don’t know what I will do—I might be on the street. I am now applying for jobs in grocery stores, book stores, and other retail. I don’t really want that, the minimum wage will not even come close to paying the bills and the hours will interfere with school (I’m working on a Masters degree part time) and searching for a real job.
I try hard to stay positive, I really do, but I am finding it harder and harder lately.
I know how hard it is too stay positive. The world seems to keep collapsing. I just that the housing market took another hit in February. This is the market the economist were using to say that all is right with the world. And now we see that it was just a false start. That makes it more discouraging to us seekers.
However in the end there is only one person who can control us and that is us. We have to practice setting triggers until the become second nature. These will be negative detector triggers. We detect negativity we need to say stop we can’t have that think positive. Thinking positive has proven to be work. It takes more energy to think and be positive than it does to think and be negative. Negative thinking will drain your energy faster though. This knowledge gives us what we need to stay positive, it is work but it is the type of effort that pays off. It has also been proven that positive people are healthier and we want to stay healthy.
I have a bachelors and a masters and I have been out of work for 1 1/2 years. I am looking at lesser jobs but not with a lot of effort and yes the bills have to get paid and that is a fact that we have to deal with.
I wish you luck. Try to stay focused and positive.