When You Just Can’t Find a Job

Unemployed for more than six months or chronically underemployed? You might want to conduct an honest, detailed personal assessment of your job-hunting strategies, mental outlook and personal presentation. Here are some tips from career professionals to help you begin your assessment:

1. Find a personal advisor. Select an objective third party--not a family member or a friend--to give you ongoing feedback about your appearance, job-hunting skills, interviewing techniques and job-hunting tactics. This person could be a career counselor, employment development department volunteer, coach, church or synagogue representative or psychology professional. If you are short on funds and unable to compensate your advisor according to their needs, consider bartering services.

2. Submit your resume to scrutiny. If you’ve been sending out mass mailings of resumes with little or no positive response from employers, have a professional career counselor or resume expert scrutinize your resume and cover letter. Ask for candid critiques of the documents. Study examples of resumes and cover letters of people who have successfully landed jobs in your field. How are their documents different from yours? What can you learn? You can also check out resume-writing books from your local library.

3. Practice interviewing: Have a supportive associate adopt the role of employer and ask you common interview questions. Tape the interaction, then review your responses. Ask your acquaintance for feedback about your performance.

4. Create an “objection-buster” list: In the last few months, have two or more employers rejected you for similar reasons (not enough education, lack of experience in a certain area)? Write down their objections, then draft positive replies, so that if the issues arise again you can effectively address them.

5. Be a model short-term employee: On temporary assignments, you have a chance to shine. Do more than is asked of you. Be cheerful and professional. Each time you accomplish something important, send your boss a memo about it.

6. Do an image overhaul: Get your hair cut. Shine your shoes. Do your nails. Dress to impress on interviews. That means abiding by the dress code of the workplace you visit.

7. Stay positive: This is the hardest step of all. Listen to motivational tapes. Read inspirational books. Write daily affirmations about yourself, your worth as a person and employee; and your contributions. Socialize; don’t isolate yourself. Start a “self-esteem booster” book. In it, list the accomplishments, awards, achievements, honors and successes in your life. List the people who care for you and want you to do well. List your heroes and write about how they overcame their obstacles and bounced back from hard times. Refer to this whenever your spirits flag.

8. Don’t give up: The job of your dreams could be right around the corner.