10 Self-Confidence Boosting Tips When Your Job Search Is Getting You Down

1. Take care of yourself every single day. It might sound silly, but beginning your day by taking a few extra minutes to shower or just wash your face is a symbolic way to begin each day fresh. Some women might notice a significant difference in their self-confidence when they add just a little make-up or take a few extra minutes to style their hair. A fresh shave may offer the same increase to some men. Whatever makes you feel good about your appearance is worth the few extra minutes it takes.

2. Dress your best. While it may sound appealing to job search from home in your pjs while searching the job boards, your productivity and confidence will increase when you dress for the day. Don’t believe it? Try it. A full business suit and tie might be overkill but try to at least dress in business-casual. Besides, in this day and age of Zoom calls, you do NOT want to be caught unprepared for an impromptu Zoom meeting with a recruiter or prospective employer.

3. Monitor your self-talk. If you stumble over your words and perform poorly at a job interview, does your inner demon berate you?  Pay attention to your negative self-talk when you slip up and transform that into positive self-talk. Rather than berating yourself, focus on the positives and the things that went well. Praise yourself in your head, journal, or even take a moment to actually TALK to yourself out loud with reassuring words.

4. Take action every day. New jobs don’t just magically appear for most people without action and effort. You can’t build a strong LinkedIn presence and network without first creating an account. You can’t earn a promotion without completing your assigned work. You can’t land a new job without networking and applying for jobs. Go one step further and think positively, which will then carry over into your actions. Adopt a can-do attitude rather than assuming something is impossible for you. Quickly you’ll begin to notice a silver lining in every situation.

5. Set a small goal and celebrate the win. Whether you need to update your resume, reach out to networking contacts, or take time to research prospective new employers, set that goal as a priority for the day and celebrate when it’s complete. Enjoy the accomplishment and that lightened feeling it brings! Try scheduling your most important tasks for the morning so your feelings of accomplishment last throughout your day.

6. Incorporate small habits into your life. What could you accomplish with an added 10 minutes in your day? Tiny habits are all about taking small chunks of time, moments that might otherwise be wasted, and using the time more productively. So if you woke up 10 minutes earlier tomorrow, maybe you could use the time to journal, to plan your daily to-do list, to look for job openings of interest to you, or merely to begin your daily regimen without feeling rushed? Small habits could be anything, but that feeling of accomplishment will inspire you to accomplish even more. You don’t need to solve the world’s problems but pick something small and dedicate a small amount of time to it. Soon you’ll link multiple tiny habits together and have a full-fledged productive routine!

7. Think in terms of solutions instead of problems. We all know pessimists who always expect the worst and can see nothing but problems in every aspect of their lives. These are the complainers. You don’t want to be like that. Instead, when something goes wrong, focus on how to fix it. Find solutions rather than looking for somebody to blame. Sure, disappointment, sadness, or even anger over a problem are natural reactions but the key is not to dwell on the negativity. Do what you can to fix the problem and you’ll feel an immediate confidence boost when the problem is resolved.

8. Be grateful. Gratitude is so very easy to forget during a busy day. While gratitude journaling is popular these days, practicing gratitude can be as simple as saying, “Thank you for another beautiful day” when you awaken. Or “thank you for letting me find out about that job opportunity.” Lots of people play a role in any successful job search, and you should always remember to express your gratitude and sincere thanks to each one. Recalling all that is good in your life can fill your heart with warmth and will also boost your confidence when you realize all your good choices have led you to this place.

9. Conquer self-limiting beliefs. As the old quote from Henry Ford reads, “Whether you say you can or can’t, you’re right.”  As we age, we start to lose confidence in our abilities and those self-limiting beliefs take root in our brains. To rebuild confidence, tackle each of those beliefs by stepping out of your comfort zone. For example, maybe you are really nervous about calling your former boss to ask for a reference. It just isn’t in your comfort zone. But you know you must, so you do it anyway. More often than not you’ll come away from the experience thinking it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Then you’ll be ready to move on to the next belief!

10. Gain inspiration and motivation from people you admire. If you have a colleague, mentor, former boss, or anyone else you admire, learn about their career and how they overcame adversity. This is not to draw comparisons or to make you feel like you should be further ahead in reaching your job search goals; to the contrary, this is to inspire you that ANYONE can overcome challenges and still come out with confidence and success. Looking at their challenges, maybe you’ll realize that YOUR challenges aren’t nearly as bad as you once thought.