Glenford Smith | Rethink your strategy

QUESTION: I am at my wits' end with my job search. I have tried everything from sending out rÈsumÈ to telling people that I am seeking a job. It's now been seven months, and my savings are about depleted. What more can I do?

- Anxious

ANSWER: Thank you for your letter. You are never at your 'wits' end' with anything. You can change; you can pivot in another direction. You just feel like you have tried everything and there is nothing you can do. But don't despair or become despondent. You are allowing the thought of your money running out to make you anxious.

Marshall Goldsmith, the famed management consultant, wrote an excellent book several years ago, which he titled What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful. Basically, he showed that successful people had the ability to change by employing certain key counterintuitive habits. By practising several habits of highly successful individuals, you can avoid the pitfalls you can become more successful yourself.

I bring this up because by writing to me, you are on the road to embodying the overarching principle Goldsmith speaks about. Even though it is hard, you are looking at yourself in the mirror and saying you must be doing something wrong. You are not thinking that since you have your rÈsumÈ and your application letter the correct way, then you are right, and these stupid people must be wrong.

You are saying, "What am I doing wrong here? Maybe I need to check with someone." That is always an excellent attitude to have. Someone else may be able to suggest a modified approach that you had never thought about. Or they may suggest you change something in the rÈsumÈ you had not thought about.

You must be commended for having set some savings aside. They provided a cushion for you, even though you said they are running out.

When you are unemployed for a really long time and hard times have come upon you, please remember the title of that book and that what got you to your present situation might not successfully lead you to overcome it.

Don't think that any suggestion that there may something that you as a job-seeker are doing wrong; is essentially blaming the victim for the position you are in. This is wrong. Introspection is the path to improving any job hunt.

Asking 'What could I do better?' is often the path to ultimately get a job. You need to re-examine everything. You need to question assumptions you have made. Assume you are in a new world. You should rethink all your strategies and ask if things have changed.

I don't know the details of your rÈsumÈ and cover letter, but you have an approach to take that will revolutionise your job hunt.

Remember that there is always something new to learn, and before we can learn something new, we often have to unlearn some things. Never shrink from doing the hard work of rethinking your whole strategy. All the best to you.

n Glenford Smith is a motivational speaker and success strategist. He is the author of 'From Problems to Power' and co-author of 'Profile of Excellence'. glenfordsmith@yahoo.com