Photo Credit: mathias is analogue - Flickr

Eeyore, the old grey Donkey, stood by the side of the stream, and looked at himself in the water.

"Pathetic," he said. "That's what it is. Pathetic."

He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again.

"As I thought," he said. "No better from this side. But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that's what it is."

-from "Winnie the Pooh" by A.A. Milne

There are days it is hard to stay upbeat about finding a job. I know firsthand how tough it can be. I also know that if you are an "Eeyore" — you won’t be hired. Eeyore types have two problems — they can’t see the world through anything but “gray colored glasses” and “they keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results” (that is the definition of insanity)!

I love Eeyore as a character, but he certainly isn’t the type of character anyone would hire. I see a lot of his type: I hear "there aren’t any jobs in Michigan," "no one wants to hire me" or, my favorite, "why can’t I find a job?" Of course there are jobs in Michigan —  I know I write about jobs daily, but the other two comments may be part of a larger issue with the person and their "gray colored glasses."

I would suggest the following to get you out of the negative mindset and into being a proactive person that has a forward looking productive human — that just happens to be job hunting.

1. Volunteer - in something similar to the job your are looking for. And, post that on your LinkedIn profile.


2. Volunteer - for something that makes you feel good. There are plenty of nonprofits that need a few extra volunteers.


3. Write out your angst — write it down — then shred it. This is a simple way to get something off your mind and move on.


4. Avoid other Eeyores. They are able to take you back down the gray "doom and gloom" path quickly — I can hear them coming like a sucking vacuum.

Keep a list of your accomplishments, such as "I applied for three jobs this week." It is important to have those success moments for your own well-being. This isn't something you would likely share, it is for your benefit.

5. Treat job hunting as your job. Finding a job is hard work — get up at the same time every day and get started. If you have to, get out of the house and go someplace else (your work place for the day) and make sure you have goals for yourself daily —  just like you would at work.

Some other great articles you might want to read:

The psychology of job hunting
Don’t sell yourself short
Don’t sing the job hunting blues

Kim Kachadoorian is also known as the "Geeky Marketer". She maintains a job hunting blog Jobs in A2 as well as her Geeky Marketer Blog and Web Site (resume web site with fishing analogies). She is currently looking for her next job and found that helping others was a good way to use her talents. She'll be sharing them with readers of AnnArbor.com's Business Review on a regular basis.