Psychology of the Job Search: It’s as Easy as ABC! 

When you see or hear the letters, ABC, what comes into your mind?   

1. I’m waiting for the “D” to start singing the age-old children’s song to help memorize the alphabet 

2. Channel 5, a TV station – the American Broadcasting Company 

3. A song by the Jackson 5: ABC…it’s as easy as 123…as simple as Do Re Mi… 

4. Alpha Bits Cereal 

5. Activating Event – Belief – Consequence 

Ok, I’m betting that while you didn’t guess #5, you figured out pretty quick that this blog wasn’t going to be about the other 4 choices! Let’s dive right in with some brief definitions: 

• Activating Event – What event just happened 

• Belief – What you believed or thought about the event 

• Consequences – How you feel about it or what you did 

Now let’s apply it to your job search with 3 scenarios: 

Activating Event –   

1. The recruiter never called me back 

2. The networking contact never followed through with contacts for me 

3. My friend gave me a ton of edits to my resume 

Belief –                    

1. The recruiter must not think I could be a good candidate! 

2. The networking contact won’t be a good advocate for me! 

3. My resume must be garbage! 

(NOTE: did you notice the exclamation points above?  It’s because we feel STRONGLY about our beliefs!) 🙂 

Consequence –        

1. Bummer! 

2. Rats and Double Rats! 

3. Complete depression! 

Benefits of using the ABC Method

The FIRST benefit of using the ABC method is to dramatically increase our thought awareness. As we’ve pointed out in prior blogs, our thoughts can help us manage our emotions and feelings. The first step is to actually be aware of what has transpired – in these cases, what triggered our beliefs that dumped into our consequences. 

The SECOND benefit of using the ABC method is it allows us to isolate our initial belief and put it up against what I call some internal “truth serum.” As you’ll see, more often than not, your initial belief will probably be like those which I called out before, kind of negative. BUT, if I apply some internal truth serum, or said another way, intentionally use a positive filter to create my belief, then I’m going to have different beliefs and consequences.  Let’s see what that looks like: 

Positive Belief

1. I bet that recruiter is really busy and will call me back if I just give a gentle prompt. 

2. I can follow up with the network contact, so they know I’m persistent in my pursuit. 

3. I know everyone has an opinion on resumes, so I just need to filter the feedback received.

Consequences    

•  For all three, you have just shifted yourself from a victim mentality to an accountable one!! 

When we allow our first belief to rule, most of the time we’re fueling it with assumptions and thoughts that are not backed up with any evidence. In effect, we’ve allowed ourselves to become mind readers, but our accuracy rate is very low, and so are the moods they put us in.  

Countering with a positive belief takes a step in the right direction, but we may still be inaccurate with our thinking, and generally, those negative initial beliefs will take their position back. So…we’ve got another trick up our sleeve! 

THIRD, use the ONE method to quickly follow up on the positive belief approach. ONE stands for: 

• Objective – Use just the facts. What exactly is happening? What is uncertain or unknown? 

• No Accusations – Describe your emotions rather than guessing what someone else is thinking about you. Use “I” statements. For example, “I feel a bit nervous about not having received a call back from that recruiter.” 

• Effective – Ask yourself, “What’s the most effective thing to do in this situation?” Perhaps you’ll need to wait a bit for more information, or you may need to follow up. Over years of coaching people, I’ve found that being “politely persistent” with your pursuits gives rise to some great results.  

Battle Back with God’s Promises

Ok, so there’s some earthly advice for how to deal with a few situations that may cause you a bit of dismay. What does Scripture have to say for us? 

1. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” 

2. Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” 

3. Isaiah 41:10 “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” 

4. John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 

These are just a fraction of the verses available to us to reassure our thinking of God’s presence and His interest in helping us work through challenging times. Don’t allow Satan, the great deceiver, to fill your mind with lies! His only interest is to literally destroy you, and many times he influences our minds to help him with this task.   

Battle back with God’s promises! All of this – – can be as simple AND easy as ABC!! Blessings! 

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Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.