Success Tweet: Identify the self-confident people you know. Pay attention to how they act and carry themselves.Watch what they do. Act like them.
I’m a basketball fan. I like high school, college, and pro basketball. I especially enjoy the NCAA basketball tournament – March Madness as it’s called. In March of 2009, I did a blog post in which I told the story of tiny Siena College’s upset of Ohio State in the NCAA tournament. Part of that story is worth repeating here…
Siena is a small liberal arts college near Albany New York. It has a total enrollment of about 3,000. Ohio State is one of the largest universities in the US. It has a total enrolment of over 60,000. I bet there are some dorms at Ohio State that have more residents than the total number of students enrolled at Siena.
None of that mattered one Friday night. Siena beat Ohio State 74 – 72. It took them two overtime periods to do it, but they did it. The Saints, as Siena is called, were losing by 11 points at one point in the second half. They demonstrated the power of optimism. They refused to quit. They believed in themselves. And they won a hard fought victory.
This is a great story in and of itself. However, Ronald Moore’s story is even better. Ronald is the Siena point guard. As the first overtime period was winding down, he found himself with the ball and Siena trailing by three points. At that point he was 0 for 4 in three point shooting in the game.
He shot and made a three point basket that sent the game into a second overtime. Then he did it again! With 3.9 seconds remaining in the second overtime, and Siena losing by one, Ronald made another three point shot to win the game.
Ronald Moore made his last two three point shots attempts after missing his first four. That takes some guts. He hadn’t made a three point shot in over 44 minutes of play, yet with the game on the line, he made not one, but two, three pointers to win the game. Talk about facing your fears and acting. Ronald demonstrated the power of optimism by his willingness to take the shots he needed to win the game. Good for him - and for Siena.
Ronald Moore demonstrated supreme self-confidence in the Siena win in the 2009 NCAA basketball tournament. He was willing to take a three point shot in overtime when he hadn’t made one all game. If you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve, you need to follow Ronald’s example. Take your best shot, even when things aren’t going well. Look your fear in the eye and act.
Ronald Moore and the 2009 Siena basketball team’s story is nice, but you don’t have to look for athletes to show you how to act in a self-confident manner. You can find self-confident people all around you.
I bet you know someone who is in sales. Watch him or her make several calls one day without a single sale – and then get up the next day and do it again. That’s self-confidence.
You probably know someone who is in business for himself or herself. Watch him or her go about building his or her business. That’s self-confidence.
Summer is budget time in many US corporations. If you work for one of them, you probably know some people who have to do budget presentations. Watch them as they prepare and present. That’s self-confidence.
The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Successful, self-confident people follow the advice in Tweet 52 in Success Tweets: “Identify the self-confident people you know. Pay attention to how they act and carry themselves. Watch what they do. Act like them.”
Self-confident people are all around you. If you pay attention to what they do and how they act, you’ll notice that they have several things in common. They are optimistic. They believe things will turn out well. They face their fears and act. They take the shot, make the sales call, start a business, make the presentation. They surround themselves with positive people. They work with mentors. They mentor others.
Follow their lead, and you’ll become self-confident too. Who are the self-confident people you know. What have you learned from them?
Build self-confidence image from Bigstock
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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