There are many facets of life that require discipline; getting
up every morning to go to work, paying your bills, putting gas
in your car and countless other things. However, many people
consider looking for a new job as a hassle that can be addressed
whenever the mood strikes them.
Many Americans today adopt the ‘it can wait’ attitude and their
career search suffers as a result. Finding a job, just like
putting food on the table, requires discipline and extreme
effort to accomplish.
People who join the military get a taste of discipline during
boot camp and basic training. However, even these folks lose a
considerable amount of their discipline when they enter the
working world. If you have the discipline to work out every day
or to get up and go to work, then you have the discipline to
find a new job and find it quickly.
Look everywhere for that job
The discipline required to find a good or even a great job
starts with looking for that job. You have to look continuously
and when I say continuously, I mean at every free minute that
you have.
Finding that perfect job means leaving for lunch and going to
the library to search the internet for jobs. It also means
spending a minimum of one hour a night surfing the job boards to
find that perfect job. And that is just the beginning.
Once you have disciplined yourself enough to spend all your free
time looking for a new job, you can begin to divide your job
search time into specific tasks. One important aspect of looking
for a job is to make contacts. You do this by sending your
resume to all placement agencies and letting them know your
requirements for your new job.
Network with friends
You must also spend some time networking with your friends to
see if they have any ideas for you. You should also spend time
networking with acquaintances whose spouse might work for a good
company or a person you met at church who works for a company
that might be hiring. No matter what the source, you need to try
and take advantage of any contacts you may have.
Another aspect of a disciplined job search is looking at all
possible sources for a job. This might include multiple job
boards, several newspapers, and many different company websites.
It never hurts to send a resume to a company that is not hiring
because they will generally keep your resume on file for 6
months.
Finally, it never hurts to use the phone book and call places
where you might like to work. I have actually gotten a job while
the market was terrible by blindly calling software companies to
see if they needed help.
Stay positive and stay disciplined
Another important aspect of disciplining yourself to find that
perfect job is to keep a positive attitude even in the face of
rejection. I have sent out hundreds of resumes without a
response but have managed to continue sending my resume until I
landed a job.
Unfortunately, looking for a job is not like going to McDonalds.
You can’t just pull up to the drive through window and select
your new job from the super value menu. Throughout your intense
job search efforts, you must maintain a positive attitude and
remain disciplined.
If you consider getting a new job or advancing your career as
one of those events in life that require perseverance and
discipline, you will succeed where others fail. If you are able
to dedicate any and all free time to finding that perfect job,
your efforts will be rewarded. So, put your nose to the
grindstone and accept the fact that finding a new job is going
to take lots of work and extra effort. It’s going to require
your utmost discipline.
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