How to Fail and Make Yourself Miserable

If you don't want to get a new job, you don't want to have goals. Successful people have goals and commit them to paper. Write down what you want and where you want to go - if you don't, how will you know when you get there? When it comes to job hunting this means you must:

• know your strengths
• know your weaknesses
• know how you can help a company make or save money (resources)
• have a plan and
• work you plan (that is why there is a calendar or planning blog in this series).

If you don't want a job, you will put off cold calling, networking, or you will continue to rewrite your cover letter and resume because it is 'not good enough'. We all know that job hunting is not the most fun thing we can do, but it can be if you re-frame it to be an adventure in meeting new people, learning about new companies and adding to your personal growth. Since many people do not like job hunting, they will procrastinate by making (invalid) excuses as to why they are not searching for a job.

If you don't want a job you will sit back and wait for the job to come to you. You may tell a few of your friends, send out a few resumes and cover letters for jobs found in the local newspaper and will have spent time surfing for websites (but in a haphazard way) that will post your resume, but all these are passive ways to look for a job. Successful job hunters get out there and hustle because they know job hunting is a participatory sport.

If you don't want a job, submit your cover letter, resume, application without researching the company or better yet, go to the interview unprepared. Successful job hunters take an interest in what other people and companies are doing. They learn about what is going on in various companies. They know their strengths and weaknesses and better yet, are working on improving their weak areas. Successful job hunters know about the companies they visit and let the interviewers know this. They go to interviews with additional resumes, pens (black and blue), they have business cards, they may have work samples or letters of reference. Successful people are clean and pressed - they come to an interview dressed to take on the day - they don't show up in clothes that are dirty, unpressed or ill fitting.