4 Tips for Job Seekers

As a result of the downturn of the economy, many people are struggling to find a job.  While I was in school at Tuskegee University, I was fully dedicated into finding jobs and learned a lot throughout the process.  I worked diligently in obtaining this goal and managed to attain several internships and receive several job offers upon graduation.  The techniques I used can be used by anyone.  If they chose to follow them, I guarantee that they can have the same success as me - if not better.   I made a list of the top four techniques that helped me throughout my job seeking process.

1.  Staying Positive

Staying positive is essential in getting the job you are seeking.  When someone has a positive personality, that person looks better, feels better, performs better, and gets better results!  One of my main selling points during my interviews was my enthusiasm.  Whenever an interviewer asked me a question, I answered it with so much excitement and confidence that my positive energy rubbed off on the interviewer.  Even if you stumble on the questions, your lack of quality in your answer can be made up by your enthusiasm.  These large companies are not necessarily looking at how smart someone is on a specific subject, but more so how much potential they have to excel working for their company.  If you show the interviewer that you have a good attitude, employers will be willing to work with you in the technical areas you are lacking because they see that you are willing to learn.  Now if you go in the interview with a negative attitude, how do you think you will be able to use this technique?  It’s impossible! 

You may have chased several leads that led you nowhere or been on plenty interviews that didn’t lead you to anything, but keep going!  If you are filling out an application after being turned down numerous times, still complete the application like it is your first.  Don’t ever become lazy when filling out an application.  For your next interview, walk in with a smile that will light up a room.  Shake the interviewer hand with great confidence.  Answer the questions like President Obama would.  As the interview concludes, thank the interviewer for the opportunity for even meeting with you.  People who are thankful get better results and that is a proven fact.  Throughout your job seeking process three words should be going on in your head at all times…POSTIVE, POSITIVE, POSTIVE!

2.  Utilize every resource

This is a tip that I see very few people use.   Utilizing every resource that you possibly can will increase your exposure by far. While I was in college, I was in the career placement center at least twice a week.  Many of my peers haven’t even heard of the career placement center.  If you are in college, I highly suggest that you utilize this center and get to know the coordinator because it increases your chances of getting a job.  The career placement center’s sole purpose is to help students get jobs; it is a shame how so many students miss out on these opportunities.  Every student should participate in the career fair and the different workshops the school offers to educate students on job hunting.

If you already graduated, use the World Wide Web as your learning center and career fair.  There is tons of information on advice for getting a job.  Utilize every job seeking website possible.  Many people think that their name is just a drop in the bucket if they use these websites, but if you submit your resume to numerous websites think how much exposure your resume will be getting!   If you know somebody working for a company that you want to work for, ask them for a lead.  Call your professors back in college and see if they know of any job openings.  Think about anyone in your network that can assist you in getting a job and call them. 

If you are looking for a job that doesn’t involve having a college degree, think outside the box.  Go apply for jobs having a professional persona.  For a job that requires that you to wear a uniform to work, show up for your interview in business casual.  Make yourself a resume.  Just because you didn’t graduate from college doesn’t mean that you can’t have a resume.  There are plenty of places on the internet that can help you make one.  Having a resume will put you above your competition.  If you took some time to brainstorm, you will be amazed of how many resources you can come up with that can help you get a job.  Stop thinking about how much the job markets sucks right now, but come up with ways that will put you above the competition, so that you will have a surplus of job offers.

3.  Self Confidence

What is the purpose of an interview?  My definition is to sell yourself to a potential employer.   I always tell my friends and family before they go on an interview that no one knows them better than themselves.  If you truly believe that statement, your confidence should be out the roof!   I get excited when I go on an interview because it gives me the chance to brag about myself.  How many times do you get this opportunity without looking like a snob?  You may be saying…”Dre, I don’t have anything to brag about?”  I love to hear people make this excuse because after brainstorming we ALWAYS find something that they can highlight that makes them look like a superstar. Prior to my first internship, my only job experience was working at a fast food restaurant.   At the end of my interviews, you would think I was CEO of that company because I talked about that job with so much pride and confidence.    I never fabricated false stories to make myself look good, but I talked about the SMALL task that I done and explained them in a LARGE way that highlighted my skills.  Don’t be intimated if you don’t have any job experience in the specific discipline you are applying for.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  If you present yourself with great confidence during the interview, this will show the employer that you can accomplish any task that they assign you.  If you have a low GPA, don’t get down about it.  GPA is only a number.  Your GPA doesn’t represent your burning desire to achieve in you specific discipline.  If you don’t have this burning desire, I highly suggest you get it.   Every excuse that you can think of for you not getting a job can be solved.   You just have to stop making them and create solutions that will get you the job of your choice.

4.  Stay Persistent

Staying persistent is important in any task that you are striving for.  I got a good buddy of mine that is searching for a job and has been rejected numerous times.   Even though he hasn’t had any success in getting a job, he is staying positive throughout the whole process.  Every lead someone gives him he chases it.  He attends many career fairs.  Through all the unsuccessful interviews he had, he finds ways to improve his interviewing skills so next time he can be better.  By my friend being so persistent, he is following the rules of success.  His job opportunity is coming if he continues to stay persistent.  Matter fact, I truly believe that his new job will exceed any of his current expectations he has for his ideal job.  Right now God is testing his faith and it seems that he is passing because he hasn’t given up.  If you can get an A on God’s test of faith, imagine the rewards you will reap.  I gave you this short story to explain how important it is to stay persistent.  Even if the future doesn’t look too bright, still keep your lights shining bright.  Don’t quit now or never.  If you give up, you take the loser route and no one likes to be a loser.  Be a WINNER and never give up.

I hope these tips help you out in your search for getting a job.  If you are already applying these techniques, keep applying them.  If you have your own techniques, keep applying them.  If you already have a job, teach others what techniques you used to get your job.

“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.” – Elbert Hubbard

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Dream Chasers: Power of Positivity

Dream Chasers: Power of Positivity: "Why positive thinking is so important If you have been following my blogs, you may notice that I write about being positive in everyone. I d..."

Power of Positivity

Why positive thinking is so important

If you have been following my blogs, you may notice that I write about being positive in everyone. I do this because I can’t stress enough how important it is to stay positive.  It is essential to your success.  When you have positive thoughts, this feeling sends a signal to your brain that causes it to stimulate.  When your mind stimulates, your brain works better.  Having a negative thought is like taking a depressant.  How effective do you think you will be if you went to work after taking some sleepy medicine?  This ineffectiveness has the same effect on your dreams if you go through life having a negative mindset.

“What if” Technique

When faced with a new task or obstacle, many people get the “what if I fail mentality.”  “What if I lose all my money…What if I embarrass myself…What if I am wrong?”  Next time you hear these voices creeping into your head, replace them with the “what if I succeed mentality.”  Instead of thinking about all the things that can go wrong, think about the rewards you will reap if you succeed.  Even if you suffer a setback, you should feel proud about yourself for at least trying.  If you are persistent, you would use this experience as a learning tool and don’t make the same mistakes (if any) again.  Some of you may say…”Dre, I did everything right, but I still didn’t accomplish my goal.”  My answer to you is to keep on going.  When you have faith and take action, God takes notes.  Eventually, whatever goal or dream you are striving for will come into fruition – that is if you stay persistent.  Personally, if I strive for something and fall flat on my face, I will feel much better about myself than if I stayed idle and just daydreamed about trying.  At least I know that I strived to accomplish my goals or dreams.  I am young and I have my whole life ahead of me.  If I make a mistake now, I know eventually those mistakes will add up to something that is far greater than all the mistakes I have ever made! 

How Positive Thinking played a huge part into my life 

I read my first book on positive thinking right after I graduated from college.  I found this book really fascinating, so I dug deeper into the subject.   The more and more I studied the subject, the more I realized that I have been unconsciously using this principle all through college.  Before every test, I use to say to myself that I will get a good grade.   At the time, I didn’t know that I was using the power of positivity.  This strategy helped me graduate summa cum laude with an engineering degree.  I am not saying this to brag, but I wanted to show you an example to show that this stuff really does work!  The more and more I develop my skills of positive thinking, the more success seems to come my way. Everything I write about in my blogs works.  I apply the principles I learn from great teachers and I am seeing the results.  This is the one of the key reasons I started this blog because I would feel selfish if I haven’t shared this great knowledge with you.

Practice makes perfect

The more you practice weaving out the negative thoughts and bringing in the positive, the better you become at it.  Even though I have not mastered the power of positive thinking, I am way better than I was a couple years ago.  This has helped me cultivate the mentality to pursue my dreams of starting my real estate business.   All the great athletes will tell you that they must practice in order to be successful at their sport.  Well as Dream Chasers, we must ALWAYS practice thinking positive because living our dreams is our sport.  I assure you that your life will change for the better if you develop a “negative free” mindset.  All I ask is that you don’t forget about me when you make it to the top!

“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” – Anonymous

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6 Reasons Why People Fail

For the past year, I have been avidly studying the subject of goal attainment.  I have read many books from great philosophers such as Napoleon Hill to great preachers such as Joel Osteen.  In my studying, I have noticed authors highlighting the same few reasons why people fail.  If you haven’t suffered from at least all six reasons listed below, I guarantee that you have suffered from at least one.  This blog is not to come down or belittle anyone, but it should serve as an awareness tool so you can pinpoint which areas need improving.  The only way to improve anything is to first know what the problem is and then come up with a plan to fix it. 

1.  Fear

Fear is probably the most popular reason why people fail.  “I am not smart enough…I am not pretty enough…I don’t have enough money.”  How many of us have had these belittling thoughts plague our minds before?    You have to learn to block these types of thoughts out your mind.  They are detrimental to your success.  If you desire to accomplish a goal bad enough, your desire to succeed should block these thoughts.  Positive and negative thoughts can’t be in your mind at the same time, so when striving for your dreams, which one do you think will help you out the most?  Learning how to harness your mind will take some practice, but the more and more you learn to control it the easier it becomes to manage what comes in and out.  Once you master your thoughts, there isn’t anything on God’s green earth that can stop you!

2.  Lacking Motivation

Motivation is the driving force in achieving your dreams.  If you lack motivation, the success rate of you achieving your dreams is very low.  You may have dealt with defeats in the past or had harsh upbringings.  These factors affect your motivation level.  You have to learn to overcome these barriers.  No one is perfect.   Don’t let the past tarnish your future.   The only way you can build up your motivation is to constantly visit your dream and remind yourself that you WILL accomplish it.  A great tool to use is to read motivational books or blogs to keep your passion burning.  This will help you out tremendously!  When you believe in your heart that you will succeed, your motivation level will go through the roof.

3.  Indecisive

You have to commit yourself to a specific dream or goal.  Its human nature to be indecisive from time to time, but being too indecisive will delay you accomplishing your dream.  Your dream or goal should be something that will give you great self gratitude, whether riches are involved or not.  I know you heard the saying that it’s not work if you are passionate about your job.  In order to make plans to accomplish your dream, you first need to know what you are seeking.  What is that one thing that you always think about or wish you had?  I have some good news for you; it can be yours if you commit yourself to getting it!

4.  Inaction

“I am going to work out next week…I will write my business plan tomorrow…I will go back to school when I free up some time.”  We all are aware of these statements. I wish procrastination was a word that was never invented.  Tomorrow turns into next week, next week turns into next month, next month turns into next year, and the ball keeps rolling.  Have you ever heard the phrase…”Party like there is no tomorrow.”  Well think about your dreams the same way.  Take action like there is no tomorrow.  If you want to go back to school, make a decision to go back to school NOW because tomorrow isn’t promise.  I live my life with the end in mind.  At my funeral, I want my loves ones to share how I was an ambition individual who always sought after living an abundant life.  Get some action behind that dream and make it happen!

5.  Lacking Persistence

When face with obstacles, typically we want to throw in the towel and give up.  Well as Dream Chasers, this is against our values.  We will NEVER give up.  We will hold our head up through the ups and downs.  If I was to ask if you wanted a $100 bill, would you want it?  What if I crumpled up the $100 and threw it on the ground, would you still want it?  If you are like me the answer is probably yes.  The value of the $100 hasn’t changed has it?  So why when we make mistakes or when we TEMPORARILY get defeated we think our value has changed?  We think we aren’t smart enough or we aren’t strong enough. The good thing about being God’s children is that our inner potential will never be taken away.  Our value hasn’t change a tad bit if we make a mistake or get defeated.  You should be grateful for mistakes.  Experience is your best teacher.  When you make a mistake or suffer a setback, don’t get discouraged but learn from the experience and create a solution so next time you will succeed. I don’t care how many setbacks you have had in life.  If you continue to strive for excellence, eventually your life of abundance will come!

6.  No Plans

When the Empire State Building was built, do you think the construction workers just started the construction with no architectural plans?  Imagine the catastrophe if they had.   When going for a dream, ALWAYS have a plan.  Initially, a lot of people get bogged down because they get overwhelmed thinking they have to put together a 30 page business plan.  This is far from the truth.  You initial plan can be however long you wish.  By putting together ANY plan, you are taking the first step of faith.  This makes God smile.  With God smiling, how much do you think your chances of accomplishing your dream increases?  As you follow your plan diligently, all the blanks will be filled.  I want to build a multi-million dollar real estate empire.  Do you think I am worried about every single detail involved with accomplishing such a feat?  My business partner and I have created a plan in which we used our scope of knowledge.  We know as we continue to educate ourselves and gain more experience everything else will fall into play.  Take that first step of faith and put a WRITTEN plan together.

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Why having a burning desire is so essential for you success

What does a burning desire mean to you?

To me it means having a feeling so strong that it becomes an obsession.  Some of you may attach a negative connotation to the word obsession, but this assumption is anything but far from the truth.  In this case, I am referring to an obsession of accomplishing your dreams.  Your desire to achieve your dreams has to be implanted into your mind so that all you do is eat, breath, and sleep your dream.  You have to picture yourself already in possession of your dream. 

The benefits of having a burning desire

This burning desire is going to give you that extra courage to keep you going when you suffer setbacks.  This burning desire is going to give you that extra strength to workout everyday to get you physically fit.   This burning desire is that stimulus that is going to help you come up with those creative ideas.   This burning desire is going to allow you to say YES when the rest of the world is saying NO!  When you have a burning desire, every obstacle you face becomes inferior.  Having a burning desire to achieve your dream is the ONLY way you will ever see it come to realization.

How to create a burning desire

I have covered in greater detail the methods you can use to help build a burning desire in my blog Desire+Faith+Action=Success, but I will give you the following example. 

Imagine if you wrote down in your daily planner some upcoming activities that HAVE to be completed by the end of the day.   If you have any self discipline, I guarantee that these tasks would be completed in a promptly matter because they were instilled in your brain that they were doable.  Well your dreams are the same way.  The only way you will ever achieve your dream is to first convince yourself that they are achievable.

Traveling with no destination

Not writing down your dreams is like going on a road trip with no destination.  You and your spouse start driving and your wife will ask…”Honey, where are we going?”  You shrug your shoulders because you don’t have a clue!  You don’t know how to get there and you don’t know how long it will take to get there because you don’t know where you are going.  First, figure out what your definite purpose in life is.  What is that one thing you wish to accomplish that would make you proudest?   Once you figure it out, write it down and visit it regularly.  This will implant in your mind your desired dream and help you come up with the plans to achieve them.   

Goal Attainment

I keep mentioning dreams, but this technique can be used for any goal you want to accomplish.  For instance, I have an issue dealing with how other people feel towards me.  To help with this mental flaw, I recite the following statement every day…”It will be a great personal achievement if I wasn’t so sensitive to how people feel about me.”  Since I started this, I have seen a big improvement in this area.    

Just Write It

I hear some of you saying…”Dre, I don’t need to write them down because I think about them all the time.”   Maybe you do think about them all the time, but it’s a difference when you write them down.  If you commit to writing them down and reciting them each day, you would be amazed how your faith in achieving them grows.   Once your faith starts to grow, then your will to take action grows.  Taking the first step is the hardest.  Once you take it, you are on the stairway to accomplishing your dreams.  Stay persistent and don’t fall off the stairway.  You may trip up a couple times, but don’t fall.   I was skeptical at first, but the more and more I use this technique, the more and more I noticed my dreams coming into fruition. 

WRITE IT, BELIEVE IT, DO IT, REAP the BENEFITS

To illustrate how this technique works, I will share with you what famous comedian Jim Carrey said on the Oprah Winfrey show… “I wrote myself a check for ten million dollars for acting services rendered and dated it Thanksgiving 1995. I put it in my wallet and it deteriorated. And then, just before Thanksgiving 1995, I found out I was going to make ten million dollars for Dumb & Dumber. I put that check in the casket with my father because it was our dream together.”