Written by: Dayna Ciarfalia (Mathews)
Professionally edited by Kitty Carlisle
Back in 2010, I moved to Phoenix from small-town northern Minnesota without a job and without ANY contacts in ANY industries. Smart move? Probably not, but I did it anyway because I wanted to experience life in a new place.
I didn’t really know what I was looking for in a job either. Triple trouble! About a week after moving here, I got a call from a financial company in Scottsdale and figured I’d give it a shot. What I ended up signing up for was a MILLION times less than ideal, but hey, it was something to put on my resume and give me some additional work experience. I had to start somewhere, right?
For 2 months straight, I drove over 40 miles each way and spent 3+ hours in traffic every day to a job that paid me ZERO dollars per hour.
Yep, you read that right.
I just needed to get my first three clients and then I would get paid an hourly wage – a feat I foolishly felt would be easy for me. In order to do that, I attended 4+ networking events, walked into 20+ stores and made 50+ cold calls per week. ALL of which came up with nothing – ZIP, ZILCH, NADA.
Though I would leave work every day exhausted, drained, and feeling like a failure, I still had a smile on my face and retained the utmost faith that everything would work itself out. I believe it was that ONE mindset that successfully got me through that hard time until I found what it was I was meant to find: my first high-paying, hourly, benefits-paying job as a Career Advisor at a local non-profit called Arizona Call-A-Teen Youth Resources (ACYR) here in Phoenix.
It’s because of that job that I sit where I sit today, but if I wouldn’t have had that crappy, character-building job (if you would even call it that), there’s no way I would have been introduced to the job at ACYR. In reflecting on my experiences in the job search here in Phoenix, and the experiences of my most successful clients, I’ve found that it’s been mindset that’s gotten me – and them – through to the successful places we ended up.
So, what are these mindsets, you ask? Welp, here you go!
- “I will find the job that’s right for me.”
If you don’t believe finding the right job is in your future, it’s WAYYYY less likely for that to come true for you. Seriously, belief in getting what you want makes a world of difference. Just ask anyone who’s read The Secret. If you haven’t read the book and want a taste of what it’s all about, you can watch this video. You won’t regret it.
- “Everything will work out as it’s supposed to.”
When you choose to see the world in this way, everything that happens in your life just becomes part of the ride; the ride that will lead you to your ultimate destination. With a mindset like this, you can handle anything and get through it successfully, even a job that pays you zero dollars an hour 🙂 - “I am the solution to a company’s problems.”
Whether you believe it yet or not, YOU are a solution. The skills, experience, knowledge, and education you have equates to solutions for the companies you’re hoping to work for. When you start seeing yourself this way, you feel more empowered. You feel like YOU are in the driver’s seat being proactive in finding the problem to which you’re the answer. - “I am 100% responsible for my success in the job search.”
No, it’s not the economy. No, it’s not that there aren’t any jobs out there. And no, it’s not that you got the wrong degree. You may not be happy with me for saying this, but your success in this life and in the job search is 100% in YOUR hands and no one else’s. If you’ve placed blame on anything other than yourself while job-searching, that’s a mistake, and it isn’t helping. Take a step back and look at how you could be improving. Could you take a class to improve your skills? Could you be more active on LinkedIn? Could you be getting out of the house and meeting people more? Take responsibility for everything in your life, and watch things change for you. - “With a positive attitude, I can make any experience a better one.”
If you don’t consider yourself a positive person, I’m not saying that you can’t be successful. There are plenty of successful pessimists out there, I’m sure. BUT I would bet you all the money in the world that if you went around and asked 100 recruiters what kind of person they want to work with, one of those words would be “positive”. There’s a reason for that, folks. Positive people are more fun to be around, more enjoyable to be around, and overall, they just tend to be more successful because of their ability to turn any situation, even the most negative ones, into a more positive, successful one.
Though I’ve had many an opportunity in my life (as I’m sure have you) to have a negative mindset or not see hope in my future, I’ve chosen to keep mindsets that serve me in the highest ways possible. It’s these mindsets that have changed my life and the lives of thousands of others I’ve seen.
Your mindset is powerful. Thoughts turn into actions. Actions turn into habits. Habits turn into life-long behaviors, many of which can be negative if the wrong mindsets are chosen at the start.
Choose wisely, my friends, and you WILL be successful in the end.
Best of luck to you in all you do!