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Section 9
Job Search and Employment Success

Question 9 | Test | Table of Contents

In the last section, we discussed the "Interview Checklist" which is a checklist you might consider discussing with your client who is preparing to interview for a new job.

In this section, we will discuss how your client can overcome their fear of the job market. We will discuss six tips your client can use to manage his or her fear when it comes to the job market.

Chad, age 50, had spent most of his professional career on an assembly line as a tire builder. He had always been satisfied with the job and the pay. However, Chad told me, "I wasn’t too disappointed when the plant closed." Chad then went on to tell me that one of his neighbors had mentioned that he might consider going into auto sales, since he had been buying and selling cars as a hobby ever since high school. He then told me, "I went to the library and ended up checking out two textbooks on skills." Chad was now in the process of finding a job in this new career path and expressed anxiety about this career change.

I explained to Chad, "It may be difficult for you to begin thinking about how to tap into the sales market. The rational side of your brain may think ‘yeah, but’ because it wants you to do what you have done in the past because that familiarity is safe. The rational side of your brain may also be thinking that the safest option is to give up. After all there are plenty of resources like the news and stories from other job seekers that tell about how the job market is difficult and it can be disheartening. This can be completely overwhelming and you may feel like giving up."

Chad then asked, "I have been feeling anxious about beginning a sales job. I can’t help but think to myself ‘am I wasting my time?’ How can I get over this funk?" I then stated to Chad, "When you are feeling overwhelmed, you may find it helpful to focus on one thing you have to do and just do that. Once that one task has been completed, move on to the next one."

I gave Chad the following two reasons people may become compelled to deal with their fears:

1. The negative results that come from remaining immobilized by fear. I asked Chad to think of a situation in his life that would be a motivation for him to find a job. Chad responded that his family was a strong motivation. Chad then began to realize that the pain of staying unemployed was greater than his fear of the job market.

2. To achieve the life your client wants but he or she understands that it won’t happen until he or she client faces that fear.

To compel Chad to face his fear surrounding his upcoming job search, I asked him the following questions:
a. What in your current situation is worse than job searching? What will happen if you don’t begin working soon?

b. What do you have envisioned for your life to look like in six months? A year? Ten years? Is getting a job central in making it a reality?

After answering these questions, Chad came to realize that job searching fit into his plan of being employed for the next ten years in order to pay for college for his child. Having made this realization, I provided Chad with the following list to use to manage his fear:

1. Research new information on how to job search in today’s market. I stated to Chad, "This can be from people you know and trust, trusted internet sites, and so on."

2. Locate places that could give you reliable industry-specific information and news about your local market.

3. Create small steps and celebrate when you accomplish these steps. Creating small steps has been explained previously in this section.

4. I stated to Chad, "It is important to have realistic expectations for yourself. Things will come up in your job search such as companies not hiring and interviewing and not getting the job. These situations are out of your control. It is important to mentally prepare yourself for the facts of job searching; and realize that in today’s job market it is unusual to receive a job after the first interview."

5. Find role models that could inspire you through your situation. It would be helpful to identify people who have faced failure and have succeeded. Does your Chad have a sports hero?

6. I finally stated to Chad, "Find someone who could be your accountability partner. This person is someone who will be there for you to help move you forward and to be honest with you about your goals and fears. Being around someone who supports your dreams and believes in you is extremely helpful."

Do you have a client like Chad who could use these six tips to manage their job search fear?

In this section, we discussed how your client can overcome their fear of the job market. To begin with we went over the two reasons that compel people to face their fear surrounding the job market. The two reasons are the negative results that come from remaining immobilized by fear and to achieve the life they want but they understand that it won’t happen until they face that fear. We also discussed six tips your client can use to manage his or her fear when it comes to the job market: research new information about how to job search; locate industry-specific information and news about the local job market; create small steps; have realistic expectations; find role models; find an accountability partner.

In the next section we will discuss, the six reasons that your client can either be hired or not hired for a prospective job.

Case study: Deems 56-57 MacDougall 8-13

Complicated Grief Therapy as a New Treatment Approach

-Wetherell J. L. (2012). Complicated grief therapy as a new treatment approach. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 14(2), 159–166.
Reviewed 2023

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article References:
van Hooft, E. A. J., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., Wanberg, C. R., Kanfer, R., & Basbug, G. (2020). Job search and employment success: A quantitative review and future research agenda. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication.

Hulshof, I. L., Demerouti, E., & Le Blanc, P. M. (2020). A job search demands-resources intervention among the unemployed: Effects on well-being, job search behavior and reemployment chances. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 25(1), 17–31. 

Hulshof, I. L., Demerouti, E., & Le Blanc, P. M. (2020). Reemployment crafting: Proactively shaping one’s job search. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(1), 58–79. 

QUESTION 9
What are six tips your client can use to manage his or her fear when it comes to the job market? To select and enter your answer go to Test.

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