Use the Internet to Boost Job Seeking Confidence

This post is by Stephanie Staszko of Blue Octopus Flat Fee Recruitment.

Being unemployed can be an extremely stressful period in anyone’s life, and feelings of worthlessness and frustration can soon surface. Unemployment is a vicious circle for some people: the longer their period of unemployment stretches, the lower their confidence becomes, thus lowering their chances of getting a job.

Keeping confidence high when you’re out of work is important so as not to enter this vicious circle. If you’re currently unemployed and feeling low, there are many ways which you can utilize the Internet to boost your job seeking confidence and, ultimately, get hired.

Safety in numbers

Knowing you’re not alone when going through times of hardship can be comforting and, currently, unemployment rates are unusually high. If many of your friends and relatives are working it can feel like you’re alone during your bout of unemployment.

Bookmarking a page on the Internet that you can refer back to, which states unemployment rates and statistics can help to remind you that you’re not alone when you’re feeling down. This can help to raise your self-belief and confidence once again and give you more enthusiasm.

Join a community

Joining an online community which relates to one of your interests can be a great way to meet new people online and forget about your unemployment for a while. The community could be related to the industry you’re in, or would like to work in, or it could just be related to a general hobby or interest.

Communicating within this niche community can help to occupy your mind, and meeting new people can open up new career opportunities. Inform people in your community that you’re looking for a job, as someone may know of a vacancy you haven’t heard about and may even have the power to put a good word in for you.

Read recruitment blogs

Recruitment blogs can help you with a variety of different job-related problems. They generally provide information on everything related to employment and many provide job seeking tips and tricks which you may not have thought of trying before. Some recruitment blogs even provide advice and allow you to write posts explaining your career problems, and answer them on the blog.

It may also be worth reading a recruitment blog which is aimed at employers so you can keep up-to-date with the latest hiring and firing strategies—knowledge is power!

Don’t be unsociable

You can use your social profiles as a job seeking/networking tool as well as a personal messaging service. Many employers view candidates’ social profiles before hiring them so make sure you have nothing inappropriate on there!

You could also use social networking sites to inform friends that you’re unemployed, as they may be able to help to find you a position within the company they work for. Finally, keeping in touch with friends is important at difficult times—no one can put a smile on your face more readily than your close friends.

How the Internet can ruin your confidence

Of course, every silver lining has a cloud, and there are ways in which using the Internet can ruin your job search. Here are a few bad habits to avoid when in front of the screen:

• Don’t job-seek for excessive amounts of time, as it can actually be counterproductive as well as bad for your health. Sitting at the screen for too long can cause eye strain and fatigue—which certainly aren’t confidence boosters!
• Avoid falling into the “nocturnal routine”. When you’re unemployed, it can be easy to fall into the trap of staying up really late at night and lying in bed all day. Although this may initially sound appealing, it can be a hard routine to break and can actually be quite depressing.
• Don’t become a “success stalker”. Avoid “stalking” your successful friends online. Obsessing over what you haven’t got is a sure-fire way to knock your own confidence. Be proud of your friends’ success and inspired by it, but avoid turning into the green-eyed monster. Jealousy can destroy relationships and right now, you need the support of the people who are close to you.

What tips can you add from your own experiences being out of work? We’d love to hear them!

Written by Stephanie Staszko on behalf of Blue Octopus Flat Fee Recruitment. Steph enjoys writing various posts on recruitment for candidates and employers alike. You can find her on Twitter @StephStaz where you’ll find more career/recruitment posts.