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Resume Q&A: How Can I Stop Feeling Like a Failure?

Feb 20 2022

Q. It seems that everyone in my graduating class has a job lined up except me. I am ready to give up. Even though I’m a recent graduate, I have worked before and I know what to do to get a job; but clearly I am doing something wrong. How can I get my drive and optimism back and stop feeling like a failure?

A. As a recent graduate with work experience, you may know what employers are looking for. But do you know what you are looking for? To get from graduation day to a full-time job, you need to visualize and commit to the path without feeling like a failure or experiencing self-doubt and stress.

Visualizing is an excellent way to change your perspective, prepare yourself for a challenge, and reduce your stress. Whether you are searching for a job or about to leave for your first day at work, anxiety is normal and any hiccup may seem overwhelming.

Once you have a better handle on your feelings of failure and your stress, you are able to take important next steps that may be just what you need to finally land that job. For example, you might speak to your college career office, invite someone for lunch or coffee who works in that field to find out how they got their first job, hire a resume writer, work with a career coach, or revisit your wish list for jobs to make sure you are being realistic. First, however, you have to believe in yourself.

Here’s how visualization works:

Find a quiet place.
Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply. You might put one hand on your heart and one on your belly to help you concentrate on your breath.
Begin thinking of your ideal job. Visualize the location and your desk.
Put yourself in that spot and allow yourself to feel successful.
Repeat this exercise. Gradually, your confidence and motivation will return.

Now that you know where you want to be—and can see yourself in that role—back up to the start of the journey. Where do you usually encounter a problem? Do you struggle to research companies, write your resume or LinkedIn profile, post your resume, accept an interview, prepare for an interview, speak to an interviewer either in-person or online, or follow up with a thank you?

Visualize yourself in the problem situation and then visualize yourself mastering the solution. If feelings of anxiety and fears of failure enter in, cast them to one side and return to the visualization.

Decide if you need outside help. Many job seekers turn to experts in research, writing, interview preparation, and negotiating skills. One of the resources you can always depend on is Robin’s Resumes®. Contact us for a free consultation to determine your needs.

Recovering from Failure: How Your Resume Helps

Apr 03 2016

If you took a chance on starting your own company or moving to a different industry or handling a project outside your normal skill set—and failed or were fired—you have to focus on recovery, both in life and in your resume. In the course of my own career, I have found myself working at incompatible companies and I have made major changes in career goals. I know failure is hard.

How do you handle failure on your resume?

First, focus on that good news. You started your own company and kept your skills fresh. You took a chance when others wouldn’t. You tried something new. That shows initiative, courage and accountability. Or maybe you were fired because you took chances you should not have taken or failed to follow through. The fact that a lesson was learned is also valuable.

Second and most important, you likely had some successes even if you currently think you failed. If you started your own company, did you earn some income, set up the corporate governance, set up a website, hire staff, develop a new product, or have some other successes? If let go or fired from a company, did you succeed for years, was the “failure” a change of culture or management, did you have an outside event that caused you not to succeed?

Third, keep in mind that several of the current candidates for President of the United States suffered failure during their careers, including bankruptcy, firing and dismissal. You are not alone. Consider your moment of failure an opportunity to evaluate where you want to go in your career. When you set a goal and work toward it, failure becomes a minor blip in the road. Most people who are successful first fail. Failure is just a step toward learning what you need to do next.

Fourth, give a professional resume writer a chance to work with your resume. Maybe you need a section that highlights your past achievements before delving into your present lack of a job. Maybe you need to reframe a layoff with a brief explanation such as “company closed” or “multiple rounds of downsizing.” Professional resume writers have strategies for dealing with awkward career facts.

Fifth, take a good look at your resume before the failure. Remind yourself of past achievements and accomplishments. You are greater than your current situation.

Sixth, view your failure as a success. By failing, you are now no longer in the situation that probably was causing you stress and angst. In many cases, being forced to leave a situation can put you on the path towards success – just the boost you needed to move forward in your life and your career. Instead of looking it as a failure, do a paradigm shift and look at this as the next stepping stone in your career.

At Robin’s Resumes® we know that every career is unique, sometimes in ways that seem to undermine a job search. Please contact us so that we can help you move forward with a resume that shows your true value to a future employer.