Motivation and the Job Search

One very common change people want in their lives has to do with their employment. This is an extremely stressful change, in fact a job change is one of the top stressors, coming after only a death in the family and a divorce. It’s no wonder that so many of us are hesitant to seek a better job, even if we are unhappy in our present one.

I am frequently asked whether you can use the self motivation model to find a job. My response is that the self motivation model can be used for any change you want to make in your life, even a change involving your job, whether it means finding a job by someone who doesn't have one, or someone who wants a better one.

Recall the self motivation model is:

MOTIVATION = ƒ (VISION, SUCCESSABILITY, ENVIRONMENT).

This means that your motivation is related to three factors, your vision (How worthwhile to you is the change you want to make?), your successability (How confident are you in your competence, your ability to make the change?) and your environment, both your physical environment (where you will do the work necessary to make the change) and your social environment (the people and organizations available to you).

VISION
Let’s look first at your vision. Ask yourself, “How important is finding a new job to me?” If the change you want to make doesn’t feel important to you, you are unlikely to take the steps you need to take to make it happen. You won’t be motivated. But there are ways to make a prospective change feel more valuable to you, which will result in enhancing your motivation.

One way is writing down all the positive points about a new job. Will it pay more? Will there be more prestige? Will it be more interesting and fulfilling? Will there be more job security? More potential growth? Write down all the positive reasons for having a different job.

Sometimes just as important to making a change feel more worthwhile is to write down all the bad things about your present job. Are you bored? Are you frustrated with management? Are the office politics driving you crazy? Write down all the negative things that are occurring by your failure to get a new job.

Why do I say write them down? So you can use the written words as tools to keep yourself motivated as you make the change. When you are feeling lazy and not up to working, looking at the two lists can often give you the nudge you need to get going.

Sometimes we are hesitant to change jobs because we believe that moving to another business or agency will just mean more of the same. If that’s so, maybe you need to figure out what job you would really like to have. Taking such a job would definitely be a worthwhile change.

SUCCESSABILITY
Next we look at successability. In poor economic times, many unemployed people have given up searching for jobs; they don’t have any confidence that they can be successful in their job search. Without confidence, they are not motivated to even look.

If we are in this unfortunate state, how do we get back our confidence? Perhaps the best thing we can do is get clear exactly what we want in a new job, and get clear on the steps we need to take to make that desired job ours.

Clarity increases our confidence in two ways:
1) We can’t feel confident we will be successful if we don’t even know what success entails.
2) We can’t feel confident we will be successful if we don’t know how to achieve that success.

Using the three step process to successability described in my blog posting of October 21, 2009, is a great way to get clarity. If you want clarity, I urge you to visit that posting.

ENVIRONMENT
In this posting I’m going to focus primarily on how to use your social environment to motivate you to do the work necessary for this job change.

The positive, motivation building elements in your social environment we call your resources. Here are just a couple of the many resources available for people looking for jobs or making career changes:

Job counseling: having someone guiding you on your path and helping you recognize your positive traits is powerfully motivating.

Skills Training: Do you need training to make you more desirable to employees? Explore possibilities such as on the job training in your present job. Look for skills training at your local community college or training facilities. New job skills will also make you more confident in your ability to find that new job, which will further enhance your motivation.

Networking opportunities: We have all heard, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” So make sure you are the one who knows that special person that will land you the job. Brainstorm to figure out where the people you need to know congregate. Maybe it’s the local better business bureau. Maybe it's monthly meetings of a related professional association. You may feel a bit uncomfortable if this is not something you have done in the past. Take baby steps. Tell yourself you are just going to the first meeting to observe. If someone initiates contact with you, be warm and open. This may be the person you need to know, or this person may know that person and be willing to introduce you.

If you have been dreaming about getting a job, finding a better job, or changing your career, using the self motivation model can help you make your dream come true.