Hi Hasnaa
Job hunting is stressful and hard work. Most of us get nervous when applying for jobs. No matter how qualified I am for a job, I still get nervous. It feels like an exam where you pass (get the job) or fail. Pretty terrible pressure to put yourself under when there can be hundreds of candidates and only one job.
My only advice to you is that you have to back yourself. No-one else will. People may encourage you and provide guidance on which jobs to apply for but at the end of the day you have to be your number one fan (in a non arrogant way). You need to find a way to have faith in your abilities whether you are successful or not.
In terms of how you get to that stage you can work on the practical sides. Put effort into your applications and preparing for interviews. This can include:
- Research the company – find out about them and why you would want to work for them. If you can find out about the area you would work in and stuff you would do, even better. But don’t stalk – never stalk
- Take time to write your application – make sure you address what is being asked of you; extra effort on your communications (spelling and grammar)
- Be in a position to sell yourself – this can involve getting skilled and practising your skill. In some situations it may mean you need to do certifications and formal qualifications (study hard to get a good grade to be proud of). Furthermore, you could consider volunteer work (not necessarily job related) to show that you are trustworthy and a hard worker. Go out and meeting people in your industry to get comfortable with other professionals (possibly learn of job interviews)
- Practise your interview skills – this is really important if you don’t have confidence. Ask your friends or family to ask you practise questions and make effort to think through how you would answer them. Google for general interview questions (HR type ones). If SAP related, don’t ask them on SCN or you’ll ruffle some feathers (you can search those as well)
Accept you may not be successful on your first attempt. But each go is progression to eventually getting your first job. The first win might be getting shortlisted and making an interview. The next could be getting to a second round and so on.
On each attempt take the lessons. Where possible, try to get feedback as to why you weren’t chosen. When you interview, take time afterwards to reflect on what you did and rate yourself. Try not to be hard but asks yourself what you did well and what would could have done better. Were there times when you felt out of your depth and had no idea what was being asked of you? If so, can you learn that for next time or can you think of an answer to explain why you don’t have that knowledge.
Confidence is hard to build. It takes constant successful moments to build. Sometimes you have to fake it (the confidence, not the skills) until you make it. To do this, you have to choose to be positive.
The biggest challenge you have at the moment is entering a negative spiral. As soon as you question if you are good enough you risk projecting a negative view of yourself which other people pick up on.
Good luck with your job hunting. Be prepared for the success. Celebrate it when it comes.
Regards
Colleen