You’ve built up great skills and experience in your current role, and now you’re ready to move on to the next level.

Or maybe you’ve spent the past ten years in the same company or field, and now you’re ready to shift gears and transition to a new industry.

Or perhaps you’re struggling to keep yourself motivated at a job that doesn’t align with your values, or one where your ideas or opinions are constantly challenged.

Or you were displaced from your current role.

Whatever situation you find yourself in, you’re ready to look for a new job.

You probably have a good idea of the tactical things you need to do before starting your job search like updating your resume and LinkedIn profile.

Could you be overlooking the most powerful tool in your career transition arsenal: your mindset?

Your mindset is an established set of attitudes you hold about your life and what you believe about yourself. Your mindset has the power to impact your success, and it plays a critical role in how you cope with and overcome challenges.

It’s important that you get clear on your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes, and ensure that they’ll set you up for a successful job hunt.

Here is a key element to consider:

Your thoughts create your reality

Putting yourself out there is hard. Especially when you’ve applied for job after job and haven’t heard back from a single company or recruiter. It can leave you feeling frustrated, hopeless, and in the worst-case – desperate, especially if you feel trapped in a toxic work environment or recently lost your job.

When you’re ready to leave your current job or company, it can be so easy to fall into negative thoughts about how terrible your job is, or how you can’t wait to leave this company, or that you don’t know how you’ll make it one. more. day.

If you truly believe that your job is sucking the life out of you, you might feel frustrated, overwhelmed, or unappreciated. Those emotions are powerful because they cause you to behave in ways that reinforce your beliefs.

For example, if you’re feeling unappreciated for working all night to finish a report, or for bringing in a new client, or for coming up with a new way to save money, you’ll wonder why you put in the effort in the first place.

Likewise, thinking things like, “I’ll never find a job,” or “No one wants to hire me,” or “I’ll be stuck in this job for the rest of my career,” are reinforcing your reality. Those emotions will be all over your cover letter and resume. Your application will be passed over for someone who sounds more confident, even if you’re more qualified and have better experience. And you’ll continue in this cycle of desperately applying to jobs, never hearing back, and becoming even more hopeless.

Shifting from these negative thought patterns to more positive, confident thoughts is not easy. It takes time and patience, and above all, it starts with paying attention to the current thoughts you’re having.

Start by noticing when you’re thinking negatively or complaining about your current job or job search. Then consciously change that thought. Instead of thinking, “I’ll never find a job,” try, “My perfect job is out there waiting for me.”

I know it sounds a bit woo-woo, but shifting your mindset helps you build healthy confidence. When you’re optimistic about your job search or can find things about your current job that you like, you’ll start to behave in ways that improve your situation. This worked for me both when I was desperate to leave my corporate job as well as when I started my business. Starting a business felt like I was looking for a job every day as I slowly but surely built my business to where it is now!

You may ask a friend or mentor to review your resume and help you identify your core strengths and most valuable experiences. You may decide to upgrade your resume to a more modern format to give it a fresh look and feel. You may call former colleagues or message LinkedIn connections to learn about potential job openings that you’d be a great fit for.

Coming from a place of positivity and optimism makes it easier for you to put yourself out there. Confidence comes from taking action, and you’re more likely to take action when you feel that you have a shot at landing an interview for your dream job.

It all starts with your thoughts and beliefs. If you change your thoughts about your job search, you’ll change your feelings, behaviors, and outcomes.

If I can be of help with getting to the right mindset as well as with the tactical aspects of the job search, I leave you with a couple of options:

Get on my calendar for a complimentary call to see if there is a fit for us to work together so I can help you achieve your career goals at this juncture: www.michelebrant.com/call

I would be happy to take a look at your current resume and LinkedIN profile and offer feedback to ensure it is optimized to lead to interviews and offers: https://www.michelebrant.com/resume-linkedin-review/

I hope you enjoy and get value out of this week’s round-up of curated articles just for you that I know are providing the best of the best in the areas of Job Search, Career Transition/Exploration, Career Advancement/Leadership Development and Work-Life Balance/ Mindfulness.


Why Self-Compassion – Not Self-Esteem – Leads to Success
Instead of chastising ourselves, we should practice self-compassion: greater forgiveness of our mistakes, and a deliberate effort to take care of ourselves throughout times of disappointment or embarrassment.


What You Need to Know about the Elements of Networking
Many people think they need to start from scratch when they begin networking. The truth is that the vast majority of people at least have a network they’ve built unintentionally during their lives and careers.


The Fine Line Between Being Persistent in Job Search and Being a Stalker
When you haven’t had any significant human contact, it’s hard to know when to followup. You aren’t a stalker, you’re being persistent in your job search when you followup appropriately.