What Energy Do You Bring to your Job Search?

If you’re thinking that I’m talking about your effort, I am not.?I’m giving you credit for already being very focused and dedicated to finding your next role.?What I’m asking you to notice is the actual energy behind your effort.?What thoughts and emotions are you bringing along with you?

In the best of times, searching for new employment is an exercise in vulnerability paralleled only to the search for a new mate.?It cuts right to the gooey center of the most debilitating fear we as humans try to mask: what if I’m not good enough??That’s in the best of times, when it’s your choice to make a change, and dream of something more for yourself.?

But what if you’ve just been unceremoniously invited to leave a company, along with a few hundred of your closest colleagues??Now you’ve got other baggage to contend with: confusion, betrayal, anger, frustration, resentment, and a very tangible fear for how to put food on the table and make the mortgage payment.?And with all of this weighing on you, you’re supposed to put your best foot forward, show the market you’re a rock star and land something comparable or better….are you starting to see the energy conflict yet?

Truth 1: If any of the above resonate, you are entitled to your feelings, and you are absolutely not alone in feeling them. There is no shame here: these experiences are universal, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Truth 2: If you don’t address these thought and fears, and learn to release them fast, they will sabotage your job search efforts.

Let me illustrate.?In an interview, a fully qualified person, with all the right answers, but driven by fear and haunted by self-doubt can carry with them any of the following energies:?timid, indecisive, desperate, agitated, overly aggressive, suck-up, unpredictable, and ultimately untrustworthy.?These energies will either deter an offer, or worse, attract an employer that actually prays on and exploits these human vulnerabilities.?And all that’s if you got to the interview in the first place.?If you’re carrying any of these energies with you, it will affect how you write your resume, cover letter, how you network (if at all), and even which postings you dare to apply to.?It will certainly colour the meaning you make of any rejection along the way.

Now contrast that with someone who knows their self-worth, feels good about themselves and knows that there is definitely a market out there for what they have to offer.?That sense of peace and certainty will drive their energy.?They will network with ease, enthusiasm, curiosity and an open mind. They will go for postings that might be a stretch. They’ll be more daring in how they position themselves on the resume and cover letter to get noticed.?In the interview, they come across as open, relaxed, enthusiastic, confident, trustworthy.?They leave the interviewer with that feeling of “je ne sais quoi, but I liked that one!”?Please note, this has nothing to do with charisma: you don’t need to be charismatic to leave an audience with this feeling.

So how do you make that switch from negative to positive energy???

1.?????Address that baggage -?If your ego took a hit recently, dealing with that is paramount.?Yell, cry, and stomp in a safe space, with trusted people, for as long as you need.?Your goal here is to release the negative emotions and be free of them, to make room for something better.?If your impostor syndrome got it’s hands on a loud speaker, now is the time to silence it, and let your inner knowing drive.?Personally, I recommend lots of journalling in this phase: get it out, then either keep it, tear it, or burn it, whatever feels most cathartic.

2.?????Surround yourself with proof of your capabilities – who are your fans??Family, friends, old colleagues, past leaders??Anyone who saw your strengths and accomplishments, noted them with kindness, and might be willing to do it again. This isn’t just about references for employers: now is the time for you to really reconnect with all the good, and all the potential you carry in you. Sometimes we need to start on the outside before we feel it on the inside.

3.?????Change the lens of your experience – what if what happened, didn’t happen to you, but for you? You were comfortable, and now you’re not.?But what if you weren’t meant to be comfortable, but rather to learn, grow, evolve, and even thrive??You now have the unique opportunity to become a better, stronger, happier person, with a bigger life, if you’re willing to get curious and excited about the possibilities around the corner.?You change this lens, you change your entire experience going forward.

I am by no means downplaying how scary it all is, or how difficult and abstract what I’m describing might sound.?What I am saying, with absolute certainty, is that despite all that, it is possible for you to shift your energy to the positive, and it is wildly effective in the marketplace.?I have seen it time and time again in my clients, and I promise you it will be wildly effective for you.?Learning to shift your energy will make you absolutely magnetic, not only to employers but to anyone and everyone that you meet.?If you’re still skeptical, let me leave you with this: what exactly did you think they meant, when they told you to ‘fake it till you make it?’.