As a colleague recently described, “Your job search is like the airlines.  You have candidates in arrivals, those waiting in the departure lounge and then there are those who are lost in baggage claim.”  When your job search resembles a plane stuck on the tarmac, it’s time to take matters into your own hands as opposed to waiting for a queue from air traffic control!   Managing your career these days can feel like a trip to nowhere when all you want to do is get home.  It’s okay you are not alone.  When the gates seemed closed, move forward and find the next flight out.

Finding a job is hard enough when the economy is booming let alone when the job market resembles a pit bull fight.  Having the where-with-all to stick it out is a challenge enough to make a grown man, or your pit bull cry.  The fears you face whether you are currently employed or desperately seeking a new position, need to be embraced and you need to boldly stare down your enemy for who and what it is. Identifying and coping with your job fear factors are a way for you to kick fear in the teeth before it takes a bite out of your ambition and your self-confidence.

When we become so consumed in looking for work, applying for everything we can get our hands on, taking every meeting and networking until it feels like a full time job, we don’t often stop to think about what we are doing?  It’s not just enough to follow our dreams, toss caution to the wind and pray for a miracle when we look for the next best thing.  Finding out what we really want from what we think we want is the first step in finding our perfect job.

Ring Ring, no answer.  Ping, Ping no reply. Does this sound like a tune you’ve heard over and over again?  It’s called “the silent treatment” and if you’ve ever heard the sounds of crickets when you try to reach out to a recruiter for a job you’ve been dying to interview for, you are probably not alone.  The silent treatment doesn’t mean that a recruiter does not want you.  It just means that given the amount of people banging down their door, you are let’s just say, not necessarily a priority.

Do you find yourself questioning your career sensibilities lately?  Doubting how well you can respond to change or if you lack a certain something to get ahead?  If you believe you’ve lost your “career mojo” don’t feel bad because we all have periods of self-doubt.  Your natural response may be to beat yourself up if you’ve lost your job, about to lose your job or wondering why it’s taking you forever to find a job. Finding a safe space between your fear and your freedom is not as hard as you may believe. It’s easy to get caught up in the persecution complex especially when you are a high-achiever but now find yourself doubting everything in your career path.  If you believe you have strayed too far from where you thought you were headed, it’s not too late to turn it around.  Getting your career mojo back may take time, but it’s certainly not as impossible as you may now think.

When procrastination gets in the way of moving your career forward, you can either sit and let the stomach worms squiggle around inside or actually, get up and get on with finding out what’s holding you back. It’s never easy to make change when it’s something you started or was forced upon you.  Change is as we all know, tough on those who stubbornly fight against it or easy for those who move with the flow.  If you are holding onto something that no longer works for you in fear of the unknown, then procrastination has gotten the better of you.

Everyone knows we are in a down economy.  If you don’t, then you are either richer than rich, or have been living in a cave for the past two years.  Just because you empathize with the state of the economy, does not mean you should forfeit your worth or value when it comes to what someone is willing to pay you.  So many of you think that you may have made a certain salary, earned a certain income level in the past and you can’t or don’t deserve to ask for the same amount of money now. What’s changed? Have you gotten less experience over the years? Have you depreciated in value? Just because you may not have worked in awhile or are trying it on your own for a change, doesn’t mean you are worth any less?

Consider your job search without borders.  Yes, it’s hard to find a job period let alone find one you love.  But just like dating, keeping your options open and not settling for the first one that comes along applies to your job search as well.  Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your choices were endless?  Think about the possibilities of being able to change the outcome each and every time you had a chance to try reliving the perfect interview or accepting the ideal job offer. When you know that you are in it to win it, nothing else matters and your quest is less about choosing from the limited jobs than it is from grabbing one of the limitless opportunities that are out there for you.

Like Rapunzel in the ivory tower throwing down her long braid in hopes of a rescue, does your career feel like you need more than a prince on a white horse to help you out?  Having a job these days has become more than a blessing given the alternative.  But do you somehow feel that you are sacrificing more than you think?  Feeling trapped in your situation even though you are collecting a paycheck is not any better than not having a job-you’re tangled by your circumstances no matter which side of the braid you are holding.

Would you like career growth with that promotion?  Much like a mad dash through the drive-through at your local fast food, your job search can take on a strange twist as the employment situation looks bleak and competition takes center stage.  Not sure whether you are choosing large fries with that combo? Your job search offers the same challenges as it relates to whether you truly know what you want from your next career move from what you think you want.  How do you know when it’s time to choose?  Feeling pressured about your job search not knowing whether you asked for special sauce on the side? When your job search resembles an In & Out Burger, how do you keep your job order straight and make sure you end up with what you want vs. what someone else ordered for you?