Overcoming Your Weaknesses

Chapter nine of What Color is Your Parachute by Richard N. Bolles discusses ways to overcome your, as he puts it, handicaps. A handicap can be anything from a mental disorder to not having graduated college. It can be that you feel you are too old or to shy or even too inexperienced. Everyone has a weakness. In fact, most of us have many weaknesses. Granted, we are harder on ourselves then others are on us, but we all have something we can improve on. However, just because we may not be the best at something doesn't mean we are incapable. Maybe we never learned a certain skill and all we need is a quick tutorial to understand it. Or maybe we had some type of health issue that prevented us from finishing school. No matter the situation, your weaknesses can only hold you back if you let them.

Bolles mentions several different prejudices that employer's often look at when hiring. The first is the length of time you have been out of work. Employer's tend to not want to hire people who haven't had a job in awhile. They fear that there is a negative reason as to why you have not found a job after so much time. The second prejudice that employer's often look at is age. If you are older, a company may not want to hire you because they know you will cost them more money. Also, if you are younger some companies may fear you do not have the necessary experience to complete the tasks required. Bolles says that the key to overcoming age prejudice is persistence. You just have to keep trying and eventually someone is going to say yes.

One prejudice that seemed shocking at first was the fact that some people were afraid to hire returning war veterans. When I first read that statement I couldn't think of any reason why someone would not hire a veteran. However, Bolles says that some employer's do not want to hire veterans because they fear the repercussions of veterans who have PTSD. The next two prejudice Bolles mentions are against ex-offenders and former patients (psychiatric and mental hospitals). Employer's are afraid of what may happen if they hire these people. Will it tarnish their company name to hire an ex-offender? Will they have to worry about an employee who may have some mental problems? These are all common thoughts that an employer may think of when interviewing either an ex-offender or former patient. Of course this should not be too much of a concern because the employer should be focusing on the candidates skills, not their personal life. Equal opportunity is something highly valued by people trying to find jobs in the United States and most employer's respect this.

The very last handicap that Bolles talks about is shyness. Being too shy can actually hurt your chances of getting a job. You have to jump at any chance you get to become the person you want to be. Of course you do not want to be overly aggressive, but you do want to assert yourself. Employer's should know that you mean business and that you are extremely qualified for the position you want. Confidence is the key to success. If you believe in your self, others will believe in you too.

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Photo credit: symphony of love / Foter.com / CC BY-SA