How to Re-energize Yourself and Your Job Search

Abridged: New York Times

CHICAGO, IL -- You have been out of work and looking for a job for several months and feel discouraged. How can you re-energize yourself and your search? Patience and persistence will help you get your job search back on the fast-track.

When you begin a job search, it's easy to feel hopeful and excited. But if months go by without an offer, that enthusiasm can wane. Job seekers can lose their motivation and start feeling personally rejected. When a job search isn't working you feel like a failure. You need to refocus and get outside of your own head.

The way to reinvigorate the search and change your attitude is to do what businesses do when customers aren't buying: Find some trusted friends, preferably at the level of those interviewing you, and ask them to be brutally honest. Ask them: "What might someone see in my resume, my presence, the way I interview, that needs improvement? Is there something I take for granted that might differentiate me to a potential employer?" Be willing to take their advice and make some changes.

This article appeared in the March 17, 2008 issue of The Career News. It is reprinted here with permission from The Career News.