If you’ve been job searching for a while and are seemingly getting nowhere, chances are your confidence will start to take a hit and your belief in yourself and your abilities will start slipping away. However, if your job search is going to have any real success, it’s really important that you do all that you can to try and prevent this happening or at least remedy it, if you feel it is starting to have an impact. After all, if you are going to present yourself to an employer as a viable and competent candidate, you need to believe yourself that this is the case. Today we’ve put together a few tips which will hopefully help you keep that confidence up. Here are 5 Ways to Boost your Self Esteem when Job Searching.

Don’t criticise yourself
It’s important to remember that we are in the midst of pretty challenging economic times and that the bigger picture is that there are fewer jobs and more people vying for every one of them that gets advertised. This is the situation globally. You are finding it tough to get a job because of factors that are very much out of your control, not because of your lack of skills or abilities. Take some time to review how you have been successful in the past and realise that you will be again. You still have those skills, you still have those abilities and in time you will be able to secure a job and use them again. Try not to be overly self critical and feel that it is all somehow your fault. That is most certainly not the case.

Keep being proactive
When job searching, it is essential that you don’t simply sit back and wait on jobs to be advertised that match what you are looking for – proactivity is the key. Contact employers directly, apply for jobs on a speculative basis, engage in networking activities. All these things will not only add a little variety to your job search, but will also help increase the numbers of potential job opportunities that may arise. Proactivity like this will also help keep your interest in your job search alive and prevent any feelings of ennui and apathy setting in.

Stay healthy
It might seem a bit of a cliche, however it is so true – a healthy diet and exercise are essential to help boost your self esteem. Not only will your energy levels remain high but you will also help to maintain a positive mindset. If you fail to focus on these things, you may not even be aware of the impact that they are having, on how you look and behave – other people however will, especially any employers who you may meet or may invite you for interview. It is now more than ever that you need to focus on your diet and exercise and ensure you maintain good health.

Do something you enjoy
When at work, most of us tend to live for our time off – be that weekends or annual holidays, to spend our time doing things that we really enjoy – be that hobbies, sporting activities or whatever. Having ‘all the time in the world’ to do those things may seem like a pretty awesome thing. The reality however is that once we have all that time, we don’t use it as we should. We get complacent, we might get lazy and the things which once interested us most can seem like a chore. If you are job searching, it’s important not to let these things slip. Admittedly a considerable proportion of your time may be spent looking for a job, however a balance is still essential. Take some time out of your job search activities and do something that you enjoy. Reignite your passions in your favourite hobbies it will have a really positive impact on your mindset too.

Do some Voluntary Work
Although you may not be able to secure paid employment, there are countless organisations, particularly in the charity and third sectors where you could undertake voluntary work. Whilst not ideal in the sense you will not benefit financially, you will reap many other rewards. You will be able to use your existing skills, develop new ones and also help make a real difference to an organisation at the same time. Doing work of this nature can provide real job satisfaction that paid employment may never do. By proving yourself to be an asset to an organisation like this you will help regain your own sense of worth and self belief.

We hope these tips go some way to helping you boost your Self Esteem when Job Searching. Got any others you’d like to share? why not let us know via the comments section below.