The first blog post I ever wrote was called Career Fear: Friend or Foe. As I recall, it took me several hours to write the post because I had so much f e a r about blogging, what to write, how to write, what to say, what not to say – you get the idea.
Six-plus years later, I am writing another post about f e a r because I so frequently hear clients use the words “fear” and “afraid”.
Fear of losing my job.
Fear of not finding a job.
Afraid to change jobs.
Afraid of getting less money, not more money if I switch jobs / industries.
Afraid that no one will hire me because I am unemployed.
Afraid that I will get tongue-tied and screw up the interview.
Fear that my age will get in the way of getting hired.
Fear that no one will hire me because I was fired for a performance issue.
Afraid that the competition will have more to offer than I do.
Afraid of tough questions that I’ll be asked in a telephone interview.
Fear that my new boss hates me.
Afraid of all the ‘what-ifs’.
Fear that my skills are rusty.
Fear of talking about myself.
Fear of saying the wrong thing to a hiring authority.
Fear that I will get downsized when the merger goes through.
Afraid of taking vacation for fear they will realize they can do without me.
Fear of standing up to a boss who bullies me and my team members.
Fear of failure.
Fear of going through my life being miserable and unhappy.
Afraid of what they’ll think of me.
Afraid that someone younger will get the job.
Afraid of what will happen to my reputation if / when they find out I went bankrupt.
Fear of being fired over something I said to one of our customers.
Afraid of yet another rejection notice.
Afraid of starting my own business.
Afraid that I will go through life never figuring me out.
Afraid of losing the business I own given the economic situation.
Homework Exercise:
Q1: As a job seeker, what do you fear?
Q2: What five career-related things are you most afraid of?
Q3: What fear is stymying you right now?
Q4: How has fear held you back or kept you in a state of stuck in your career?
Q5: What actions might you take if you replaced the word “fear” with the word “courage”?
Q6: What choices might you make if you focused more on confidence and less on consternation?
Q7: How has fear been a driver and a motivator in your career life to date?
Q8: What steps can you take starting now to do something about your fear(s)?
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