In this series we are looking at the personal issues that would lead someone to be stuck in the rut of unemployment. For this article, our lens focuses on confidence, an issue that has seen plague millions of people for years but only recently due to the spike in mental health cases pertaining to Depression and Anxiety has become a hot button issue in the public arena.
Confidence issues can stem from anywhere, what goes on in someone else’s head is their business and therefore trying to ascertain why they reacted the way they did to whatever pitfalls they encountered is an exercise in futility. What might shock someone in catatonia might be water off a duck’s back to another. It varies from person to person.
What we can do is offer some pieces of advice for those people who are suffering from low self-esteem. The best way is to start immediately by doing something different that shakes your schedule to its core. Making changes to your schedule can break the routine and therefore any thought patterns that have become ingrained can break up and therefore when you feel like you might suffer from a lack of confidence you can question it before you feel it.‘You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.’ -John Maxwell.
A good way to begin, is to make sure that the task you assign yourself is relatively small and otherwise easy to achieve. Make a change to your diet or try exercising for ten minutes and that will break the thought cycle that has become so difficult to alter. The smallest changes can be the most beneficial in the long run. If you hate walking but like music, then a walk with headphones and your favourite songs could encourage you to get outside. With Red January upon us and the charity Mind promoting outdoor time we know that daily exercise does enhance our lives and make us feel better. Release those endorphins!
Confidence when applying for jobs can often leave you feeling disappointed. You end up talking yourself out of the positions you want to apply for, for whatever reason. Perhaps you read a job description and apart from one minor detail the candidate profile looks like a perfect match but because of that detail you don’t apply for the job.
Applying logical thought to this: The worst that can happen is that you get a letter (email) of rejection and the best thing that can happen is that you get the job you want. If you are feeling low and hopeless, try looking at things in this pragmatic way. Doing a risk assessment and seeing that the benefits of success far outweigh the consequences of failure you’ll feel more inclined to dish out your CVs and cover letters more freely.
The biggest critic you have to win over is yourself so try to silence than inner critic because often what you perceive to be a simple reality check on your ability and suitability for a role can simply be negative thoughts that only seek to weigh you down. Impostor syndrome is not welcome here! If you want to fail you will join dots that don’t exist and make great leaps in logic to prove yourself right before you even try. Realise this. Check your negative thoughts and call them what they are. Don’t mistake pessimism for realism.
Here at The Job Auction we know You Can Do It! -Which is why we created a platform for exactly this reason. If you want to showcase your skills, simply create a public profile (it’s free) or you can market your business using the same approach. If you want to showcase your skills as ongoing, permanent, as a one off task or even as an auction, we’re here to help across all sectors and with all options. Career focused? -We currently have over 230,000 jobs on our site, surely one of those could be yours? If you need assistance with your CV or with Interviewing to get you going, contact us at CV Clinic. Be in it to win it and get on The Job Auction today. Without doing so, you’ll never know. You are but one click away…
(Not all profiles are public, the option is yours. If you’d like to create a private profile in order to apply for existing roles, this is possible.)
