Using Journal to Support Your Job Search
Are you searching for a job? Here are some tips on how you
can use journaling in that pursuit. It is important to know what we are looking for in a
position and company. Normally, we can write a long list of
stuff we don't want, but what do we want? We hear all the
time from career coaches and professional development gurus
that we need to define our ideal job. But golly gee,
getting past the mindset that we deserve our ideal job and
that the ideal job is really out there, is something else.
Then after we weed through that muck, we need to write down
the characteristics of what we "do" want. All this is enough to make anyone want to stay in bed with
the covers over their head. With the lengthy list of all
that needs done, and in what priority, it is perfectly
understandable why people stay in a job they don't like.
The overwhelm of everything is daunting. Job hunting is a chore whether it's in an employee-focused
market or an employer-focused market. Of course, it's
easier when the job market has more positions then lookers
but that hasn't occurred in a number of years now. And the
prediction is not in favor of it changing any time soon. Career professionals tell us that we should be preparing for
our next position the same day we start any new position.
Yes, this can be mighty difficult, especially when all the
butterflies are still unaligned and you are still trying to
figure out where to find the rest rooms and lunch room. If
you mentioned all this to your friends they would think you
are crazy and that you should be satisfied that you just
have a job. If this happens to be you -- you are in a new
job and still feeling lucky to have that one -- it's the
prime opportunity to pick up your journal and begin defining
your next move. If you are job hunting and going through the interviewing
process, use journaling to practice interviewing dialogue.
Many of the interviewing books available provide typical
questions to get your started. Find the questions and
practice various responses. Do this 10 to 15 minutes a day
and you will be an expert interviewee fairly quickly. If you are going on an interview and you are nervous, write
about your apprehension. The mental expression will also
calm your nerves. If you can, arrive early, sit in the car
or the lobby and record your feelings before heading up to
the interview. During the interview ask if you can take notes and record
the questions. After the interview record the questions in
your journal. After the nerves have calmed, practice a
variety of different responses. Continue practicing until
you feel comfortable with your answer. It is important to
continue practicing with these questions several days later
when you have a different perspective on the interview.
During this process, the journaling will help you expand
language skills, communication skills, and cognitive skills. It is important to learn as much as you can about the
company before you sit in their chair. A research journal
is excellent for tracking this information. If you find
newspaper articles about the company, copy and paste them in
the journal. Amy, a recent law student graduate even goes
into the interview with her "job search" journal in hand.
Occasionally, she explained, she opens the journal purposely
and asks questions she prepared and makes sure the
interviewer sees the article, company brochure, and other
information when she is thumbing through. On many occasions
she has found that even the interviewer never saw the
article. Offer to bring a copy back when you return for the
second interview. Having a positive attitude in anything always gives us a
heads up for success. Using journaling to support you in
locating you're next job is a great way to begin, a great
way to progress, and a great way to come out ahead. You
will find that you are way head of the game when you do
this. Your competition most likely will make all the
excuses of why they didn't do this and you will move up
closer or even snag your ideal job. (c) Copyright Catherine Franz. All rights reserved without
permission. Catherine Franz is a writer and author of over 1800 published articles, books on various subjects. She is a columnist and writes several Newsletters a month. Catherine is a 20-year international journaling instructor, including several US Presidents and First Ladies, and author of two booklets on hundreds of journaling tips and techniques. Visit the store at: http://www.AbundanceCenter.com
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