Take full advantage of all your opportunities

By Goretti Kimani

For the career minded individual, being jobless is a special kind of torture. Besides being broke and unable to meet basic life necessities, jobless people suffer from ridicule and stigma from their more successful friends. It takes a person with great effort and self consciousness to concentrate on a job search and avoid getting besieged by negative circumstances.

Career building is very much like mountain climbing. No matter how hard, rocky or cold the mountain gets, the focus is always be to get to the top. It also pays to prepare for the occasional slips and falls that can never be entirely eliminated.

To win, you have to give every opportunity your best shot. It is common nowadays for people to lose chances just because they were waylaid by the occasional slips and falls mentioned above. But those who make it keep their mind focused on the ultimate goal, and make that coveted job their primary objective, if not their obsession.

But what causes these slips and falls? The number one cause is fear. Some people fear too much. They are afraid they will never get invited for the interview. When an interview comes up, they are afraid they are not good enough. When they get the job the fear becomes performance based. These people forget that being afraid has never helped anyone. Focusing on the right actions and going the whole distance is the only chance you have.

Low enthusiasm

And some people have very low enthusiasm. No matter how many interviews you have attended, it pays to remain enthusiastic. Failing an interview should always be treated as a lesson in the process and never a punishment or a personal score against you. Some people grumble and judge too much, and eventually carry this negative burden to the next interview opportunity.

Common silly mistakes may also cause these slips. One such mistake is looking down on a job due to the title. Remember that job titles differ across sectors and companies, and no job should be judged on the basis of a mere title.

Another common mistake people make is concentrating too much on the salary or benefits that come with the job. A job interview is a market where you are the product on sale. Your value will usually be determined after, and not before, the interview. Putting too much effort on the salary will distract you from the key objective, which is to sell your skills and abilities and pass the interview.

Wasteful information gathering from the wrong sources also causes unnecessary distraction. Researching too much about the company can actually be your own undoing. Every tree will has a bad apple, and even the world’s best blue chip companies are not perfect employers. Information gathering, especially from present or past employees, should be done with caution. Many employees will usually find it easy to talk about the one thing that is wrong about the company and conveniently overlook the ninety-nine great things about it.

Winner

While observing cautious optimism may be in order, every chance should be treated in isolation, and accorded all the attention, energy and enthusiasm necessary to make one a winner.

The writer is a human resources specialist with Peoplelink Consultants Ltd. Email: [e-mail]