Years ago I was given a set of “Rules of Success”. This was the staffing industry and I was new to the industry. I just came off of my own successful business that the bottom suddenly fell out of and it ended up being a disaster financially. I hung on to the hope far too long that I would turn it around.
I didn’t have a set of “Rules of Success” in my previous business. I can’t say that is the reason for its eventual failure but do believe if I had had a set it could have made a difference.
Since my failed business and entry to the staffing industry, remember, years ago, I came across an inspirational and motivational practitioner named Dr. Robert Schuller. I was drawn to his motivational message and delivery of the message. I bought a few of his books and got more familiar with him. One of his key messages was the “Possibility Thinkers Creed”.
Why do I bring this up? Well, because I believe these are excellent points to expound on as they relate to the JOB SEARCH. I can also tie the “Rules” to the “Creed” and some key elements of the JOB SEARCH. If you keep an open mind and willing to read what is here, you will likely come away with a fresh perspective and attitude for your JOB SEARCH. And, it will be a good one that you can use for other things going on in your life.
“RULES OF SUCCESS”
1. COMMIT
2. SHARE
3. MOTIVATE
4. COMMUNICATE
5. APPRECIATE
6. CELEBRATE
7. LISTEN
8. EXCEED
9. CONTROL
10. SWIM
“POSSIBILITY THINKERS CREED”
When faced with a mountain, I WILL NOT QUIT!
I will keep striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath, or, simply stay and turn the
mountain into a gold mine - - -
NOTE: Dr. Schuller is also the pastor of the Hour of Power TV Ministry and of the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California. I owe it to Dr. Schuller to inform you that the closing phrase after gold mine is “with God’s help!” You should know the “CREED” in the original form but by the same token not misconstrue my purpose to tie it to the “RULES OF SUCCESS”.
Conducting a JOB SEARCH is a very trying experience. You want something, do all you can to get it, but, you are at the mercy of someone else’s decision as to whether you can have it or not. But, do you really need to be at someone else’s mercy? To some extend, yes, but there are things you can do to give yourself an advantage over everyone else competing for the same thing you are.
What are those things you say? Well, read on and you will see.
“RULES OF SUCCESS”
COMMIT
When you were on the job you probably did everything you could to not let anything interfere with you getting the job done. You were committed to the job and the rewards of a job well done. Do you apply the same work ethic to your JOB SEARCH? Most people don’t. They get up in the morning, find things to do that are not JOB SEARCH related and consequently do not have the same work ethic, read that Commitment, as they do when on the job. Give the same commitment to your JOB SEARCH that you did to the job and you will experience the success you had on the job in your JOB SEARCH. The JOB SEARCH is a job in itself and “When faced with a mountain” DO NOT QUIT!
SHARE
Sharing can be a great thing and be very giving. Think about networking, which you should be doing. When you ask someone for leads, contacts, who do you know questions, you are asking them to share with you valuable information. You will not likely use it all and should be willing to share with others, information that you may and may not use. The giving you do is more likely to give more back to you than giving nothing. If you give nothing, that’s usually what you will get in return. The mountain you are looking to climb over, pass through, or, tunnel underneath, can be turned into a gold mine if you mine it! Mine it with shared information.
MOTIVATE
Self motivate yourself and others around you. Remember when you give, you get. Keeping yourself motivated will be contagious to others and there will be better karma around you during your JOB SEARCH. Think of what you will learn during your JOB SEARCH, the value it has, how you can put it to use or how it can be shared with others. Appreciate the tools you have to assist you in your JOB SEARCH such as your computer, your Internet connection and the Internet itself. Look at the material, tips, BLOG’s and FORUMS that are out there to offer help for the JOB SEARCH. Be motivated to utilize all the tools at your disposal and enhance your JOB SEARCH results. You smile and you get a smile back. When you are cheerful, you get cheerful back. When you motivate, you get motivated back. When you give, you get back. That is turning the mountain into the gold mine!
COMMUNICATE
Communicating dovetails into sharing and motivating as well as networking. You can’t share or motivate without communicating. Information can be very valuable but is impossible to get without a form of communication, whether it is verbal or written. What you are looking for in your JOB SEARCH will very well come to your through communication. That makes communication essential.
APPRECIATE
When you appreciate all you have going for you, you will be better able to illustrate that to your audience in the JOB SEARCH. Appreciate the education, training, mentoring, seminars and anything else you have received that has help grow your career. They all have value and can be used to market yourself to your profession, your industry. When you appreciate what you have you take better care of it and know the value that it has. Have an enthusiastic and positive attitude about who you are and what you can do and market that value. It will pay off.
CELEBRATE
Celebration of success can be done for the small successes you have while you march on to the ultimate success of getting a job. You do research and find the name of a hiring manager! You network and are given the name of a company hiring or other leads. These examples can be cause for celebration. They are examples of “climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath, or, simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine”. You are finding your way to the gold mine or turning the mountain into a gold mine. Celebrate the steps in your JOB SEARCH. It will help you get through it better.
LISTEN
I had to be far more careful about this in the past than I need to be now. I was not the best listener and many times talked too much, listened too little. Over the years spent in staffing, I have learned and now know the value of and the art of listening. When you communicate with others, listen carefully for the value you can get out of the conversation. There will also be unsolicited hints in the conversation that you may miss if you don’t listen well enough. Listen for the hints and ask questions relative to them. You may find the gold in the mountain. Listen and you shell learn.
EXCEED
Set some reasonable goals for yourself and exceed them. Have some flexibility built in and don’t get concerned if you miss a time line or a goal. You can always reset or adjust based on the situation. What is most important is setting expectations and making every effort to meet them. Exceeding is putting your best foot forward, doing the best you can and more. When I work on my cars (my hobby) doing bodywork my wife likes to check on me to see what I am doing and how it is going. When she sees that I made a change in a design, am redoing bodywork, or, whatever the case, she says it appears I made a mistake and am redoing it. I say, no, it is a design change. I remind her that car builders don’t make mistakes, they make design changes. The design change is intended to continue to do better. If you make a mistake, not accomplish an objective or need to redo something, make a “design” change.
CONTROL
Sometimes you may feel you have no control and in some instances, such as over the Hiring Manager who is deciding who they want to hire, you may not, however, you have more control than you are taking credit for. If you are working with a Recruiter, they have control over who they market you to, how it will be done and the effort that will be put forth. When you market yourself, you are in control. Don’t ever depend entirely on someone else to do what you can do yourself. Your JOB SEARCH is too important to pass onto someone else, particularly someone who doesn’t feel the same pain as you having to search for a job when they currently have one. You can share control when it comes to recruiters but you want to take control and keep control. Generally, whoever has control gets the win.
SWIM
Swim upstream and be a winner. There is an 80/20 rule to share here. 80% of job seekers focus their JOB SEARCH on where 20% of the jobs are located, the Internet job boards. This 80% continually do the same thing over and over and are getting the same results. They don’t know of anything else or do not do anything else to get a different result and wonder why and/or when they will get a different result. Sooner or later they may. What they probably never heard of, or, don’t know of is the definition of insanity. Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. That’s what 80% of job seekers do. Be 20% er, do research, call companies you never talked to before, call hiring managers you don’t know, network with people new to you. Pull out all the stops. Use the Internet as a tool for research and as an additional source, but not as your only source. “When faced with a mountain, I WILL NOT QUIT! I will keep striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath, or, simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine”. Now get out there and turn that mountain into a gold mine.
What you BELIEVE, and CONCEIVE, you will ACHIEVE.
This article is meant to be more inspirational and motivational than functional in process. Other articles have been written on the mechanics of the JOB SEARCH. I suggest you go to:
There you will find other articles on all topics JOB SEARCH. Check it out and you won’t be disappointed!
If you like what you see and find value in this information, reference my other BLOG’s, BOOKMARK the site as a favorite to COME BACK often and
TELL A FRIEND!
I encourage you to do so.
I welcome comment and if you wish me to address a specific subject or have a question, let me know in the comments section or send me an email to:
Now, go out and SEIZE the DAY!
Those are really very helpful tips. Having a confidence during Job interview can really boost your chance to be employed.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. In todays environment many people feel beat down and get discouraged. It is hard to have enthusiasm and display that in an interview. And with the way companies are managing their hiring practices, not responding to resumes being submitted, not giving feedback to interviews and just the way they handle people, is it any wonder? People need to have the same confidence and enthusiasm today that they had when they were on the job. Most anything less shows a sign of weakness that can be conveyed as a big negative in an interview. They still have the skills and know they can do the job. Display the confidence in themselves in the interview, show enthusiasm for the job and surpress any anxiety and they will come out much better in their search for that next position. A cliche here; when competing with someone for a position, and the bears are chasing you during the process, you only have to outrun the other competitor. Run Forrest, Run.