FREE Workshop 3: Where Is YOUR "But"?

The Essential Step:  Where Do YOU Put Your But

The greatest first step in job hunting is learning where you put your but.  (That is with one t in but… )  Stop and listen to that internal conversation every job hunter has – where the real battle for success is won or lost.

“I really want that job … but…   I have this problem.”   

Or

“I have this problem …but … I really want that job.”

Don't be scared off - 
The problem is either in the macro or in the micro.  By macro I mean the big picture of the world around you (unemployment rates, the business climate, companies leaving your area).  By micro I mean things that effect you personally (I have a disabling condition; I am too old or fat or ugly for the job). 

In facing this question, it does not matter if your problem is big and impersonal or small and really personal, placing your but in the way of success stops you before you even get started. 

It is easy to watch the news and decide that times are too tough and 

how are you ever going to make it in times like these?  

*  THAT emotion will show itself in your walk, in the way you talk and will sap the energy in your smile and your style. 

SO WHAT!  
You heard 20 jobs were lost across town?  SO WHAT!  You aren’t looking for twenty jobs, you are only looking for one person smart enough to see the energy and spirit inside of YOU and hire YOU.  

Now the micro side of things where you take a look at yourself in the mirror and do not like what you see.  Yes, I would like that job but come on, I am just too darned (fill in the blank) to get hired.  Folks, you have just fired yourself before you even had a chance to get hired.  

You are much more than your disability or shortcomings – 
You are a valuable person and could become the employer’s valued team member if they could see past the problem, right?   First YOU have to see past the problem to seeing you as part of that team.  As the job hunter THAT picture in your mind is the most powerful thing you have going for you. Use it, do not lose it.

How you phrase the ‘but’ question determines your ultimate success.  

If your but comes before your ‘problem’, the last thing you think of is why you will NOT get the job.  You have built a mountain to climb even before you get to the employer, whew!  Isn’t it harder to go into the interview that way? 

Putting the ‘but’ after the problem puts your desire and drive first.

Think of these things from the employer’s point of view, 

who would you hire - someone held down by their but, or freed from it?  

Remember that the person with the self- confidence to land the job despite barriers is the employee who will solve problems at work with ease and confidence as well. 

Making It Work:

Write down all of the things that are in your way in your job hunt, listing them as macro and especially the micro things affecting your hopes for your future work.  

Make it a long list (25 or more) and include some silly things like how it is bound to rain on workdays and you may get Darth Vader for a boss as well as personal things like I am pretty old or I have this prison record.

Be honest and true to yourself. 

Which ones of these are on the right hand of the ‘but’ sentence and which ones are on the left side?  Be painfully honest with yourself because this IS all about you after all and if you are not honest you are only cheating yourself.   

Sit back for a moment and take a look at the sentences where the problem stifles your chance for getting the job.  Your tough chore here is to change your perspective on these issues to saying Yes, I have that problem, but I still want the job more.     

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