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Build Job Search Resilience with Positive Mindset, with Ruthie Ditzler

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When dealing with a tough job market, it’s crucial to have enough resilience to get you through without falling prey to a negative mindset. How do you build that resilience? According to Find Your Dream Job guest Ruthie Ditzler, you start by dealing with the negative messages you tell yourself. Learn how you self-sabotage and find ways to correct that. Ruthie says the best way to build positive mindset is to reflect on all the wins from your career. Create a document you can look back on that lists some of your proudest accomplishments, both large and small. 

About Our Guest:

Ruthie Ditzler is part of the Talent Career Coaching team.

Resources in This Episode:

 

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 472:

Build Job Search Resilience with Positive Mindset, with Ruthie Ditzler

Airdate: October 16, 2024

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Every job search has its ups and downs.

And how you handle the low moments makes a big difference in your career.

Ruthie Ditzler is here to talk about how to build job search resilience with positive mindset.

She’s part of the Talent Career Coaching team.

Ruthie helps you navigate a job search or a career pivot with more confidence and less stress.

She joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Well, let’s jump right into it, Ruthie. Why does resilience matter so much in your job search?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Resilience matters a lot today because of the incredibly tough job market that we are facing, so we are seeing really drawn-out hiring timelines. Data from the Talent Career Coaching team shows that back in 2021 and 2022, there was maybe a 3-6 week timeline for the clients that we were working with when they were looking to find a job.

Now, I have clients where it’s at least six weeks, drawing out to several months. Some of them up to a year of job searching, and this is a marathon, not a sprint. So, resilience matters because it’s important to find what’s sustainable so you can support your mental health over the long haul during a really vulnerable time.

Mac Prichard:

How about positive mindset? How does that contribute to resilience? What difference can having a positive mindset make?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, so I think one of the things that impacts someone’s resilience during their job search is negative self-talk, and in this moment in your life when it’s vulnerable, it’s stressful, it really activates these automated negative thought patterns that we all have in some form or another.

And so, being able to have tactics and tricks in your back pocket that can help you shift into a positive mindset really has an impact, and what we see, what the research shows, is that having a positive outlook not only helps you improve your mental health during your job search, it helps you decrease stress, but there is also research that shown that people who feel more optimistic in general are more likely to land a job. That mindset really can impact your chances of getting hired.

Mac Prichard:

Positive mindset matters and contributes to resilience, and you talked about the current market, Ruthie. What do job seekers who perhaps aren’t as resilient as they might want to be do differently? What kind of mistakes might they be making?

Ruthie Ditzler:

I think what happens, going back to that concept of negative self-talk, is that sometimes we can find ourself in this negative vortex. Let’s say that someone gets laid off, they are all of a sudden experiencing feelings of stress; they might feel guilt, shame, insecurity about their situation, and those are all feelings that are really driven by our survival brain, and when we’re in that headspace, we can’t access the part of our brain that drives curiosity, that drives empathy, that drives creativity, that really helps us problem solve out of complicated situations.

I think that just ends up being a challenge that people find themselves in, where they’re spiraling, and then that spiral is actually bringing them further down. Costing more mental and emotional energy that could be spent looking for that job that’s a great fit.

Mac Prichard:

People who are in that state, how do they come across to employers?

Ruthie Ditzler:

I think that’s a great point. I think that when we find ourselves in that negative vortex point, we’re not operating from the right side of our brain, from the empathy circuit of our brain, and that comes across in the sense that when we’re feeling desperate, when we’re feeling anxious, we aren’t showing up as our best selves in the applications that we’re turning in.

We might find moments of desperation where we’re just logging in to LinkedIn and clicking easy apply, getting that quick fix, feeling like you’re making an impact, but actually, we know that taking the time to be more intentional and diligently finding opportunities that are a good fit is actually going to lead you to the path of getting a job. We might find ourselves…we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, essentially, when we are just operating from that point of the negative mindset.

Mac Prichard:

You work with a lot of candidates, Ruthie. In your experience, people who are in that negative state, do they understand what’s happening and why it’s happening?

Ruthie Ditzler:

You know, I think that’s an interesting question. A lot of times, the candidates that I work with, oftentimes, when someone does come to work with a career coach, it’s because they have come to a realization that they are at a point that something that they’re doing is not going well. Maybe they have some sense of self-awareness around that negative self-talk that might be negatively impacting their job search, but they don’t necessarily know what to do to shift away from that. There’s a spectrum, I think, of self-awareness, but people might not have the tools that they need to make a change.

Mac Prichard:

I want to talk about the tools that you share with your clients to make that change, but for a listener who might wonder if they’re in that negative state, what signs should they look for, Ruthie?

Ruthie Ditzler:

That’s a great question. When we’re thinking about the concept of mental fitness and thinking about, as I mentioned, those automated, negative thought patterns that we can get into, I think what you can really tap into is the emotions that you’re feeling and the sensations that you feel in your body when you recognize those emotions.

If you find yourself, as you’re job hunting, constantly operating from a place of overwhelming stress, maybe you’re feeling frantic, you might be angry, which is a totally valid response in the current job market.

If you’re noticing sensations in your body, wherever you identify that stress, that anger, that guilt, that shame, those “negative” emotions that are driving you, that can really be a clue that you’re in that negative headspace where you’re no longer as effective as you could be.

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s talk about what you can do differently if you are in that state and how to avoid it altogether. One of the ways that you recommend to build job search resilience with positive mindset is to celebrate moments of progress and small wins. How does this help exactly, Ruthie?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, so I think that oftentimes, when we are in that moment of vulnerability and stress, we’ve been job hunting, potentially, for a while, several months at this point, it can be isolating, it can be demoralizing, you’re sending out resume after resume with no response, getting rejected. You start to feel really down on yourself, and I think this importance, then, of celebrating accomplishments, recognizing small wins, that can both be what you’ve done in the past and what you are doing currently during this job search period.

When I’m working with clients, a big part of what we do is actually take the to think back about their work history and do a reflection of what they’ve brought to the table in previous jobs. I think this is something that sounds common sense in a way. I think it’s something that some of us who are job hunting, we’re thinking that through as we’re building out our resume, but I don’t think a lot of people actually take the time to write it down on paper and see everything that they’ve accomplished.

What are you known for? What have people come to you for support about in the past? What are the results that you have achieved for the organizations and companies that you’ve worked for? Getting a pile of accomplishments on a sheet of paper so that you can see that in front of you can be something really celebratory. Oftentimes, when I’m working with clients, they’re like, “Oh my gosh, wait, I had no idea. I’m feeling proud of myself. Look at all these things that I’ve done.”

I also really like the idea of creating a “Yay” folder, having something where you may be job hunting, and you’re currently working, thinking about things, taking a moment of reflection at the end of every work day to jot down, what did you accomplish? What are you most proud of? So that you have this document to look back at later so that you can celebrate the things that you’ve done.

When you’re on the actual job hunt, celebrating those small wins, you can feel like you’ve spent your entire day working towards this overarching goal of getting a job, but sometimes we reach the end of our day, and it’s like, “What did I even do? Did I even move the needle forward at all?”

Having, again, a document on your computer, having a piece of paper on your desk to jot down some notes, and keeping track of all of the effort that you put forth throughout the day can be a really powerful way to improve that intrinsic motivation, boost your productivity, boost your mood, and it’s just knowing that you are putting in a lot of work that is eventually going to pay off over time.

Mac Prichard:

Let’s pause there, Ruthie. I want to take a break.

Stay with us. When we come back, we’ll continue our conversation with Ruthie Ditzler about how to build job search resilience with positive mindset.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Ruthie Ditzler.

She’s part of the Talent Career Coaching team.

Ruthie helps you navigate a job search or a career pivot with more confidence and less stress.

She joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Now, Ruthie, before the break, we were talking about how to build job search resilience with positive mindset, and one of the first steps that you recommend is celebrating moments of progress and small wins and you walked us through a process for recording what you did, what you accomplished in your career, and then in your job search, keeping track of the small steps that you’re taking that are adding up toward the progress of getting that job that you want.

You talked about the benefits of doing that.

Another way you suggest to build job search resilience with positive mindset is to be in community. What do you have in mind here, Ruthie? Tell us more about that.

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, so I think feedback that I consistently get from clients is this overwhelming sense of isolation as they’re job-hunting. Oftentimes, if you’re no longer working, you’re not interacting with as many people throughout your day, and you might be in this scenario where you’re just sending out all of those resumes, trying to reach anyone, and it feels like you’re just throwing your information into the abyss. I think that really reinforces that sense of isolation.

One way to contrast, to combat that, is building community around you. People are social. When we connect with other people, it releases endorphins for us, it helps boost our mood, so I think making sure that you can connect with people throughout your day as a job searcher is really fundamental.

There are some different ideas for how to do this. I know for myself, when I was job hunting, I met up with an accountability buddy. I had someone in my circle who was also job hunting, and we created regular meeting times so that we could check in with each other throughout the week and help provide added support and accountability.

Finding people that you also know of who are in a similar situation that you can help support and get support from can be really crucial, and this is something that I do with clients as well, is creating these intimate, almost job-seeker mastermind groups where people can come together, brainstorm, learn from each other challenges and successes, boost their self-esteem and confidence as they talk through what they’re doing in their job search and get that added external motivation, that added accountability as they’re working towards their goals.

Mac Prichard:

What stops people from doing this, Ruthie? What you’re saying makes perfect sense, but why do many of us find it difficult to make these connections when we’re looking for work?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, I think a lot of it has to do with shame. Like we were talking about earlier, it’s a vulnerable time It’s a stressful time. I think a lot of times, people internalize that if they’ve been job hunting for so long, they must be doing something wrong. Sometimes thinking some of those negative thoughts like, “Well, why would anyone want to partner with me?” Or, “What could I do to support someone else if I’ve been struggling with my job search?”

I think, again, that you’re going into that negative vortex where you’re thinking those negative thoughts, and that can reinforce it. When, in fact, you never know how you, your insight, and your previous experience, and you sharing your challenges might benefit someone else. I think it’s always worth making a connection with someone in your network to offer that.

Mac Prichard:

Another step that you recommend for building job search resilience with a positive mindset is something that you mentioned in the first segment, and that’s paying attention to mental fitness. You recommend strengthening your mental fitness. What do you mean exactly here, Ruthie, and how is this going to help you when you look for work?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, when we talk about mental fitness, what I’m referencing is a person’s capacity to respond to challenges they face in life with a positive mindset rather than getting stressed or upset, and if you’re able to strengthen your mental fitness and respond to things more positively, it means that you’re going to perform better, you’re going to be happier overall. It just has this ripple effect across your life.

This is something that I work with job hunters, job seekers, I work with them around strengthening their mental fitness because they’re so activated, they’re feeling so much stress. Like I said, we are often in this moment where, because we’re stressed, these negative voices are coming in. They’re saying, “Oh, why are you even applying for that job? You’ll never get that job.” Or, “You’re never going to find another job that you love.”

All of these different thoughts that can be racing through our heads, so if we can get better about identifying, interrupting, and shifting those thoughts away, it’s going to have a big impact on our ability to search more effectively.

Mac Prichard:

How do you help people do that, to deal with that negative self-talk and overcome those internal objections? What have you found works best?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, so I think the first part is really about self-awareness and understanding how those negative voices are running the show.

There’s a concept where we can think of those voices as saboteurs. It’s this part of your brain, these negative emotions who are the voices in your head, kind of like your inner Darth Vader, and so if we can recognize and identify what’s going on and recognize the emotion that we feel with each of these negative voices, then we can get better at bringing that self-awareness. Saying, “Wait a second, right now, I’m hearing this very strong judge or inner critic in my head. I don’t have to believe this thought. What am I going to do to stop and reset and then shift away into a more effective form of thinking?”

There are a lot of these, in the mental fitness framework, there are nine of these saboteurs that we talk about that might be impacting someone’s job search, and just building knowledge about the actions and lies that each of those saboteurs tells you is a really important first step.

Mac Prichard:

What’s a good step for once you’ve identified those saboteurs for overcoming them? Is there some simple step that you recommend for people who are experiencing that negative self-talk?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yes, I think in a moment where all of a sudden you’re feeling a negative emotion, you’re like, “Wait a minute, I hear my hyper-achiever is coming in,” or, “My avoider is driving the show here, and it’s having a negative impact on what I’m trying to do.”

One really effective technique is actually just having this mini moment where you’re focused on physical sensation and noticing what’s happening in your body. Ten seconds of just resetting, focusing on your breathing, for example, maybe focusing on your sensation of touch, and what does it feel like to rub your fingertip and your thumb together. Listening to the sounds around you with intense focus and these are things that the research shows that when you’re under an MRI, just that little ten-second moment is going to actually activate that part of your brain that actually taps into the curiosity and creativity and empathy that you need in that situation.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a terrific conversation, Ruthie. Now, tell us, what’s next for you?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, so one thing that’s new that’s going on, like I mentioned, a job seeker mastermind group that I’m offering, where I bring small groups of job seekers together to combat the isolation that we mentioned and provide extra camaraderie, support, and accountability so they don’t have to job search alone. Then, I’m also excited to be finishing a coaching certification with the youth coaching institute. To really continue to enhance my ability to support emerging adults, so folks who are just getting started on their professional journeys.

Mac Prichard:

I know listeners can learn more about you and your work by visiting your coaching page on the Talent Career Coaching website, and we’ll be sure to include links to both pages in the show notes and the website article about your interview. You also invite listeners to connect with you on LinkedIn. When you do reach out to Ruthie, please mention that you heard her on Find Your Dream Job.

Now, Ruthie, given all of the great advice that you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want a listener to remember about how to build job search resilience with positive mindset?

Ruthie Ditzler:

Yeah, I think the important thing to take away is that there are steps that you can take when you are feeling in that very negative space; there are tactics that help you shift into a positive mindset, and that understanding of how to identify and intercept ways that your own brain is sabotaging, you can help you shift into a more positive job seeking experience, overall.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be Jessica Miller-Merrell.

She’s the founder of Workology.

It’s a workplace resource for HR, recruiting, and business leaders.

You can now use what are called AI apply bots to not only find jobs, but submit your resume, too.

Sounds tempting, doesn’t it?

Join us next Wednesday when Jessica Miller-Merrell and I talk about why you should avoid AI apply bots.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer and editor is Matt Fiorillo. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.