[MUSIC] You might think that in a course like this, I would tell you success is relative. You get to define what success means to you, right? Actually, wrong. There's one very specific definition of success that I'd like to share with you as we discuss how to be successful with your job search. Success is doing what you said you would do consistently with clarity, focus, ease and grace. This definition comes from one of my mentors, master coach and PhD psychologist named Maria Nemeth. Let's break down the components of this sentence. Success is doing what you said you would do, so in a sense it is relative because you get to decide what you say you'll do. What's important is that you say something, meaning you set goals and follow through with them. Consistently means you do this most of the time, not just occasionally. Clarity means you know why you're doing what you're doing, you have a clear vision for what you're working towards. And after clarity comes focus because when we have a clear vision, it becomes much easier to focus our actions. Ease is the ability to take things step by step. And grace means you can be grateful in any moment, even if you're being challenged or things aren't going the way you want. Success is doing what you said you would do consistently, with clarity, focus, ease and grace. What do you think of this definition? I like it in part because it nicely summarizes what's required to undertake any big project, including a successful job search. Research has found that people can at least double their chances of a successful job search by doing six different things. First, mastering job search skills. Second, improving how they present themselves. Third, being more aware and confident about their skills. Fourth, setting goals. Fifth taking action and sixth getting help when needed. Let's talk about each of these briefly. It probably seems obvious that mastering job search skills will improve your likelihood of success with a job search. What I want to flag here is the word skills. Every step of the job search process involves skills you can learn and hone. As career authored, Richard Lathrop famously said, the person who gets hired is not necessarily the one who can do the best job, but the one who knows the most about how to get hired. I'm sure you already know something about how to prepare for an interview or build your network, but keep an open mind and focus on improving your skills at the job search process. By becoming curious about the process, you won't just be more successful, you'll also enjoy yourself more and build valuable skills for life. Number two, improve how you present yourself. This tip doesn't need much explanation, but have you noticed that how you dress impacts how you feel? If you want to join a professional space, consider presenting yourself similarly to the well respected professionals in that space. You're doing number three just by taking this course, but numbers four and five require some instruction. Let's do a quick pull about goals. Do you currently have goals? Are they written somewhere? Do they have clear action steps? And have you shared your goals with someone? I find many people have negative feelings about the G word, especially if they associate goals with something they should do or with lost opportunities or unrealized dreams. I'd like you to set all of that aside for a moment and think about goals as a promise you make to yourself about something you'll do in the future. It's that simple, goals are a promise you make to yourself about something you'll do in the future. If this sounds familiar, it should. Success is doing what you said you would do consistently, with clarity, focus, ease and grace. Goals are a tool for saying what we'll do and making it easier to follow through and create what we want. Meaning goals are a tool for success. Research has found that people are much more likely to be successful at job searches in almost any other type of endeavor if they have clear goals that are written down with action steps. A goal can be short term or long term, easy or challenging, it's up to you, but it's very important to write your goals down and set clear action steps. Maybe you've heard about the acronym SMART for goals, it stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. SMAERT is an easy way to check your goals to make sure they really matter to you. They're realistic and they're specific enough to know whether you've accomplished them by a specific time in the future. Again, goals can be very simple. For example, I conduct three informational interviews by March 3rd, or I apply for basics coding bootcamp by Friday. These are goals that will move your job search or career design forward. I'll give you a format and a worksheet for writing effective goals when you create your job search timeline later in this lesson. But I can't emphasize enough if you're serious about getting a job, make sure you have written goals and that you revisit and update them weekly. The final thing that will double your chances of a successful job search is to get help when needed. Remember that the longer someone is unemployed, the more their life satisfaction declines and their levels of anxiety and sadness rise. Job searching can take a long time and it's very normal to feel anxious, sad or overwhelmed during this process. The good news is you're already getting help by taking this course, do all the activities, use the discussion forms and connect with other learners. But if you need additional help with your job search, here are a few tips. As I share these ideas, write down the names of anyone you think of who might support you as you find your next job. The simplest place to start is your close friends and family. These are people who are there for you already and you should invite them into your job search process. Tell them what you're thinking about, voice your challenges and ask for professional connections, hear their advice, you don't have to take it but listen to it and be open to what they're saying. Another great way to create momentum is to find an accountability partner, who is also job searching or working on another large project. You could check in for 10 minutes once a day to share your goals, celebrate any wins, and declare your next action steps. You could also look for a job search group to join. You can check your local library, State Employment Agencies or a site like meet up for free or low cost support groups or training sessions. If none of this helps, it might be worth getting professional help from a counselor or coach. If you think your emotional state is affecting your ability to move forward, talk with your doctor about working with a counselor. You can also find someone online by looking at psychology today's list of therapists, just google it and it will come up. If you seek help from a career coach, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, anyone can call themselves a career coach even if they have no formal training, so, do your homework and ask around for referrals. Most trained professional coaches like myself are members of the International Coach Federation or ICF. You can always check to see if the coach are considering is ICF certified and at what experience level? Also, many coaches will offer a free introductory session, so take advantage of those. Ask them about their training and philosophy and see if it's a good fit for what you're looking for. Good coaches will help you clarify what kind of support you need. So after an introductory session, you should know whether this is the right person for you. If you're not sure, keep looking. Keep in mind that no matter what kind of help you enlist, you're still going to have to do the work. A coach will help clarify what you want and set clear next steps after each session. But it's still up to you to research jobs, write a resume, do the interviews and stick with it. So let's return to our six keys here, look at which you might want to focus on as you search for jobs. Remember, research has shown that you can double your chances of success in your job search by mastering job search skills. Improving how you present yourself, being more aware of and confident about your skills, setting goals, taking actions and getting help when needed. Grab your design journal and open a new page. On that page, draw six batteries and label each one with these keys to success, then fill in the battery to indicate how consistently you do each of these things. If you do it really often your battery is really charged up or if you rarely or never do it, your battery is empty. Use this as a quick check in and jot down any observations as you go. Great work. What was one of the success skills you don't use as often, but you think might be valuable? Before you go on to the next thing, write down one small step you can take today or tomorrow to demonstrate that skill. It could be really simple like writing a job search goal for next week or posting your favorite transferable skills on a sticky note by your desk. Pick something small that you'll really do and write it down. Remember that successful people do what they said they would do consistently, with clarity, focus, ease and grace. Set aside a little time each week to check in and write down your goals and next actions and then take those steps in small chunks throughout your week. I don't give out guarantees often, but if you do these things consistently, I guarantee you'll make progress with your job search.
