Getting nowhere with finding a job? Low confidence, stressed and tired from applying for jobs and not hearing back? Stuck in your current job and worried you might never find anything better? 

I have teamed up with my fellow CDANZ colleague and local career practitioner, Gabrielle Riley of CareerTalk. Thanks to funding from South Wairarapa District Libraries, we are running two free workshops in June to help job seekers increase their chances of success.

Why is my job search not working?

The job market has changed so much in the last year that traditional methods of finding a job are no longer working.  Relying on a scattergun approach of mailing out the same CV to every advertised vacancy will only result in rejection and dejection.

In these workshops we’ll give you up-to-the minute info on the local job market, why traditional job search methods no longer work and what new methods will increase your chances of success.  You will learn how to write a modern CV that not only demonstrates why you are a good fit for the role but also increases your confidence and prepares you to shine at interview.

Job Seeker Workshops

Job Search Strategy Workshop – Greytown Library – Saturday 12th June 10am to 12pm. You will learn how to:

• Plan your job search strategy
• Research & target employers
• Master online applications & job boards
• Tap into the hidden job market
• Get the best from recruitment agencies

The CV and Cover Letter Writing Workshop – Greytown Library – Saturday 19th June 10am to 12pm. You will learn how to:

• Research roles and employers that are the best fit for you
• Quantify your strengths with supporting evidence
• Stop job adverts making you feel inadequate and how to get the best out of them
• Write a clear, concise and connected CV and cover letter
• Increase your confidence

These workshops are free and open to everyone.  Places are limited to keep group sizes small.  To register and receive your welcome invite go to www.wls.org.nz

Cost: FREE

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Do you sell yourself and your individual accomplishments or share your pepeha to give context and credence to yourself in terms of your family and community?

Answering in a different way to the interviewer’s expectations can lead to confusion and create an unfavourable first impression. Knowing as much as you can about the company’s culture, the job requirements and the style and expectations of the interview helps prepare you to best demonstrate your suitability for the role.

For interviewers, your job is to find evidence of how well each candidate meets the job competencies. Unconscious bias comes in many forms and can be avoided through cultural awareness and ranking candidates against job specifics rather than ‘gut reactions’ or ignorance of cultural etiquette.

Beautiful pepeha photo from https://lnkd.in/gGH_aDN
#culturalawareness# interviewquestion #unconsciousbias

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As a career coach I often ask my clients to think about their life roles and how they interact with each other. A useful exercise is to compare how much time you currently commit to each role with what your ideal would look like. This can highlight neglected areas of your life as well as areas where you may need to think about ways to reduce your time and energy commitments.

The really interesting part for me is helping my clients gain perspective on their life roles and how they are impacting on their working lives.  I have so many questions I would love to ask Gloria…

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Why is it so hard to put ourselves first?
The culture of the world we live in

• Society tells us helping others is good so we feel that helping ourselves must be bad.
• Busyness, productivity and achievements are praised. Downtime and resting is wasteful.
• Asking for help and admitting we feel overwhelmed is seen as a weakness.
• Social media bombards us with unrealistic and often contradictory ideals of living a perfect life.
• Guilt. We feel guilt for wanting to ‘treat’ ourselves and guilt for not wanting to say ‘yes’ every time.

Lack of self belief

• It is hard to prioritise yourself when you don’t value yourself.
• Making changes takes energy, enthusiasm and commitment which can be extremely daunting when you have low self-esteem.
• Busyness is a form of comfort zone. If your self-confidence is low it can feel much easier to avoid putting yourself in a new situation.

As adults we believe the buck stops with us. We have to take responsibility for our actions throughout each day whether it’s looking after children, aging parents, delivering to work deadlines. It is exhausting, overwhelming and can be conflicting and confusing. How can we prioritise amidst such confusion and busyness?

How to start putting yourself first at work
Hunter Clarke-Fields sums up the need to put yourself first in the Huffington Post article, “Making Yourself A Priority Isn’t Selfish, It’s Your Responsibility!”. I agree that giving yourself permission to focus on yourself is an important starting point.

Here are my tips for prioritising your satisfaction at work:

• Acknowledge that there are many valid reasons why prioritising yourself is so difficult.
• Take comfort from the fact that you are not alone in feeling this way.
• Be honest, be kind to yourself, treat any exercise of re-evaluating your priorities as being a safe space where you don’t have to make any decisions until you are ready.
• Write down the main issues of your current reality at work.
• Be clear about your work values, likes and dislikes and where they exist in your role.
• What do you enjoy at work? What boosts your confidence? What do you avoid at work?
• Identify which working relationships are supportive, inspiring, fun and which are draining, boring and difficult.
• What conversations do you need to have to push back and reduce the negative tasks, demands or people and what conversations to move into a space that is more interesting, supportive and fits with your values.
• Identify when you should say ‘no’ and what is the most appropriate way to do it.
• Pinpoint where any self-doubt is coming from, is it underlying beliefs from your childhood, a co-worker or boss, a lack of interest in your role or being asked to do more than is reasonable?
• Accept that there will always be consequences to your actions and inaction. Be honest about how realistic your perceived consequences may be. The world will keep on turning if you say no or admit you are feeling overwhelmed and need support.

The Result
Recognising that you have been putting yourself last and as an adult it is your responsibility to look after yourself is a way of giving yourself ‘permission’ to take time to focus on your needs. Identifying the areas where changes need to be made and appropriate ways to get support will help you to make work satisfaction a priority.

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