All the things you have to know and do in your job search are not as easy to determine or accomplish as they may seem. One reason is that you have to buy into the mindset that this is the way it works despite it’s seeming “unfair.” You have to organize your job search like a military campaign: Make a plan, set your goal, and develop strategies and tactics to achieve it.

You have to dust off your interpersonal communication and impression management skills. You have to know how to effectively use resources and your network. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the employer and think in their terms. And you have to interview accordingly.

Another reason for difficulty is you may expect to be judged solely on the merits of your resume-stated past performance and experience, without your having to “sell” yourself anew. You may expect potential employers to be fair, impartial, and forthright, and not use subjective criteria like the marketing impression you create on paper and in person.

Unfortunately, these expectations often won’t be met, thus, potentially leaving you feeling defeated and depressed because you didn’t know the “rules” (or felt you “shouldn’t” have to).

To get yourself started on the right foot you need to think of getting the job you want as the result of successfully playing and winning the job-hunt “game.” For employers it’s finding a solution to their pressing problem: Needing the most immediately productive individual to fill a void. For you it’s determining what potential employers want to hear then telling them your version of it.

Specifically, it means recasting what you have to offer in the terms that matter to them. That is, tailoring yourself to fit their image of the ideal results-oriented candidate – the “solution” to their problem. Everything must be reframed in terms of the employer’s needs and your effectively presenting yourself as meeting those needs.

Remember: What you want and need is important only to you. It’s the employer’s game so to win you have to play by the employer’s rules. Everything you do must be designed to work toward that end.

In today’s marketplace the competition for the employer’s attention is intense. Job seekers’ messages abound and every job seeker is vying for that precious few minutes of the decision maker’s time in which to have their message listened to. You’re more likely to have your message listened to if you

– Know your target audience of potential employers and their needs and wants through your research
– Design your job-hunt communications like promotional literature, emphasizing your benefits to the company
– Access and use fully and effectively all the resources available

A carefully choreographed job-hunt marketing campaign can grab employers by the collar, rivet their attention immediately, present you as a benefit they can’t resist, and get you the job you want.

Everyone tells you “shouldn’t” worry about what other people think of you. They make it sound as if it’s bad to do so – that you’re being egotistical, insecure, or even manipulative if you do. But whether you admit it publicly or not, you still do it – at least a little. And why not?!

Virtually everyone is concerned from time to time about how others evaluate them. It’s only natural since the impressions you make determine whether others are attracted to you or not. Your self-presentation influences the friends you make, the people you date, and the jobs you’re offered. It’s not an inconsequential thing.

In fact, having a concern about the impression your make on others is really healthy and adaptive. Just imagine what it would be like if you didn’t care how others perceived and evaluated you.

What sorts of bizarre and/or socially unacceptable things might you do? Wear Saran wrap to work? Have a “happy face” tattooed on your bottom so you can moon your boss at a board meeting? Eat spaghetti in a restaurant with your hands? Eschew the use of soap in any form? Who can say.

What generally prevents you from doing many of these non-normative things is your fear of the negative reactions of friends, lovers, and bosses. It’s the risk of rejection and ostracism that prompts you to monitor how you present yourself.

But saying that concern about evaluation is normal is not to say, however, that you cannot be too concerned about it. Of course, you can. Indeed, those who experience transient instances of social anxiety (as well as those who suffer from the more intense and persistent social phobia), for example, agonize over the mere possibility of evaluation and its implications.

According to social psychologist Mark Leary, what makes social situations so anxiety-provoking for these individuals is that they are *motivated* to make the desired impression (whatever that may be) but *doubt* they will be successful in doing so. Any social situation which increases their motivation to create a desired impression tends to result in anxiety. Any social situation which increases their lack of self-confidence tends to result in anxiety.

When social situations simultaneously create motivation (approach) and doubt (avoidance), the anxiety effects are likely to be overwhelming. Thus, if they weren’t so motivated to make the desired impression, they wouldn’t feel anxious. If they didn’t doubt they’d succeed, they wouldn’t feel anxious. Increased public self-consciousness in conjunction with pessimism leaves them not only unable to accurately assess their circumstances but also confident that their failure is guaranteed.

The ideal is to be just concerned enough to accomplish what you want but not so concerned that it interferes with your getting it.