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May 4th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) — A study that followed
recently unemployed people for five months — or until they landed a new
job — found that staying positive and being persistent helped people find
work sooner.
“It’s very, very tough,” said study co-author Ruth Kanfer, a professor
of psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “It’s not like
learning a skill, where maintaining a positive attitude can be easier as
you see improvement with your effort. You submit resumes, but get almost
no feedback on how you’re doing or what you could do to improve your
chances of finding a job.”
Not surprisingly, those with a positive, go-getter outlook did better
than those who were more fearful and anxious. But personality traits were
secondary to self-management in terms of success. From week to week, those
who did the most to develop routines, seek support and keep self-defeating
thoughts in check were those who put in the most hours on their
search.
The findings are published in the April issue of the Academy of
Management Journal.
The study took place between January and July 2008. During that time,
128 of the 177 people (72 percent) found new jobs.
In early 2008, the U.S. unemployment rate ranged from 4.9 percent to
5.6 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March
2012, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent.
Eva Parsons is an executive coach. “Over the years, especially in the
last few years, I have talked to quite a few executives who have been
laid-off or downsized in an organization,” she said.
Parsons recalled one client: “He was a pretty senior executive in a
global company and he was laid off. And he went right to work and he said,
‘I’m approaching this as if this is my job now.’ He was at his desk every
day and he had a list of things he wanted to accomplish. Mostly networking
initially, but also revisiting his resume or his CV and making sure that
everything was current.”
Study participants had not been fired or quit, but were laid off,
downsized or otherwise let go. All received Minnesota unemployment
benefits, were between the ages of 25 and 50, and had at least a
bachelor’s degree. Most were white. Sixty percent had recently lost
professional, technical or managerial jobs; the rest were in clerical,
sales or other fields.
On average, they put in 17 hours searching for a job each week, but
that dipped to 14 hours toward the study’s end. Mental health gradually
rose, and then declined slightly with a final uptick.
Weekly online assessments of participants uncovered either an
“approach” attitude — striving for personal growth, developing skills and
energetically pursuing goals — or one of avoidance.
“Avoiders” had a more defensive posture and were most concerned with
avoiding failure and emotional disruption. They were also more sensitive
to criticism.
Kanfer said self-defeating thinking includes: “‘I can’t do this’; ‘I’m
not likely to find a job’; ‘I keep getting nos’; ‘No leads,’ allowing
those thoughts to dominate you.”
Parsons said job seekers “have to do the usual things that people do to
stay healthy and to keep their spirits up: eat properly, get enough sleep,
exercise, all the things you normally do to manage stress.”
She added: “When they feel like they’ve been hit in the gut and they’ve
gotten this sort of bad news — a lot of people’s initial reaction is to
want to curl up and go hide in the corner. People need to do the opposite:
Reach out to friends. Keep making that part of the discipline.”
If a job search drags on, Parsons recommended finding or starting a
support group, “so that you can have other people to share your strategy
with and touch base with on a weekly or biweekly basis, and compare notes
and keep each other motivated. If it’s too solitary a process, it can be
really hard for people.”
More information
The American Psychological Association has more about recovering from job loss.
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