Job Seeker Up

You’ve heard the term “Cowboy Up”, right?  Since I live in Colorado, maybe it’s only a term known in the west.  According to the Urban Dictionary it means “…when things are getting tough you have to get back up, dust yourself off and keep trying.”  Meaning, get back on the horse or bull.  With my friends, we often say to each other: “cowgirl up”, or in my house: “teenager up”.  OK, that last one actually means: “hey teenager, wake up and get out of the bed”.  But it got me thinking, cowboys and cowgirls (and teenagers) aren’t the only ones who sometimes have tough times, need to dust them self off, get back up and keep trying.  Job seekers may need the reminder and support to do it too.

There’s no doubt that times are tough out there for job seekers: the competition is stiff, whole industries have disappeared and even though there 14 million of you, it can feel lonely.  It’s easy to fall off the horse, or it may feel like you were pushed, but regardless of how you got on ground, you have to figure out some strategies to help you dust yourself off and get back up.

You may feel it’s easier to just stay on the ground, or like my teenager, stay in bed, pull up the covers and ignore the outside world.  That behavior, as I’m sure you’re aware, only exacerbates your situation: you start to feel bad about ignoring your job search, which leads to more ‘pity party’ behavior…and the cycle continues.  So what’s it going to take to ‘Job Seeker Up’?

Not as much as you think.  One small action on your part can make a huge difference in your outcome.  Imagine yourself as a cowboy or cowgirl riding in the vast open space of the western plains.  What if you thought you were headed in the wrong direction?  Would you need to turn around, do a complete 180 to correct your course?  No, all you may need to do is steer your horse 1° left or right and you’ll end up in a completely different state or territory!

So what one degree of change can you make today to help you ‘Job Seeker Up’?  Maybe you can:

• Call that networking contact you’ve been meaning to connect with?
• Update your LinkedIn profile with some new keywords?
• Pull the covers off, put your feet on the floor and take some steps to get some oxygen in your system?
• Make a slight tweak in your attitude today?
• Call someone who is positive and always makes you feel better?

Whatever your one degree of change is for YOU today, go do it…....now……right now…..and job seeker up!

Brenda