When you were a kid, did you cross your fingers “for luck” when you were really, REALLY hoping something good would happen – maybe as you were about to ride your bike for the first time in front of your friends or as the teacher/professor was handing out the final exams?
And sometimes - perhaps often - it seemed to work.
But, then you “grew up,” and you stopped believing in crossed fingers because you knew that superstitions are dumb or, worse, useless. (And, anyway, crossed fingers are SO obvious!)
Scientific Research Shows That Crossed Fingers Work!
Well, it turns out there’s a reason for that positive outcome, and the reason many of us are – at least a little bit – superstitious: IT WORKS!
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According to LifesLittleMysteries.com, a series of scientific experiments in Germany on the effects of superstitions revealed some very interesting results. In the article, “Superstitions Bring Real Luck, Study Reveals” by Amber Angelle, researchers discovered that feeling lucky actually seems to work:
- Lucky golf balls
“The first experiment looked at the influence of the concept of good luck in a test of putting a golf ball. Experimenters handed participants a ball, and those who were told the ball was lucky tended to outperform those who weren’t.” - Fingers crossed
“In another experiment, participants were given a cube containing tiny balls and a slab with holes. The goal was to get as many balls in the holes as quickly as possible. Again, participants who were told, “I’ll cross my fingers for you,” by the experimenter performed better.” - Lucky charms
“The final two experiments involved a lucky charm brought by each participant. In a memory test and an anagram test, the participants who were permitted to keep their lucky charms with them performed better.”
The studies revealed that people who had their “lucky charms” with them set higher goals than those who didn’t, and they also achieved more success.
Getting Lucky in Job Search
So, how does this apply to a job search?
If the research is correct, having some sort of lucky charm (not the cereal) will help you feel more confident. AND, you will have a better outcome – as the research shows!
- Find your lucky charm(s).
Maybe it’s something one of your kids, your spouse/significant other, parent, or a friend gave you – a pen or a pin or something hand-made. Maybe it’s that “lucky” penny you found on the sidewalk (heads up!) as you were walking to the interview. Perhaps it’s a “lucky” file name for your resume. Maybe it is crossing your fingers at the start of a phone interview. Or, maybe it’s the Japanese Maneki Neko “lucky cat” figure, the one you find inside almost all Chinese restaurants, sitting beside your computer. Don’t limit yourself to one lucky charm! - Recognize that sometimes good luck comes to you first disguised as failure or bad luck.
I’ve been laid off twice. Fortunately! Truly, they were – in retrospect – the best things that could have happened to me. Both of them! But they didn’t seem like good luck at the time, and, in fact, were very scary. - Put your personal network to work for your job search.
Encourage your family and friends to keep their fingers crossed for you and your job search. - Keep your personal lucky charm(s) with you at all times.
Realistically, carry only the small, unobtrusive, and easily portable ones, particularly as you head out for a job interview or networking event. Leave that lucky horse shoe behind on the wall. - Enjoy the idea of creating your own good luck.
If nothing else good comes of carrying around your lucky charm, you will hopefully be laughing at yourself and the whole idea of “lucky pennies” and “lucky file names.” Consequently, you will be more cheerful and, maybe, even have a smile on your face.
Use whatever positive reminders work best for you. As someone who’s been gathering lucky pennies (also dimes, nickles, etc.) from sidewalks for years and who feels extremely blessed, I’m a believer. For many people, religion replaces luck – use whatever you feel most comfortable with.
Focus on feeling positive, feeling that good things ARE going to happen for you in your job search. When someone starts to tell you how awful things are, turn them off.
Bottom Line:
Your attitude determines your altitude is an old saying, but often applicable in job search and in careers as well as many other aspects of life. Identify your lucky charm, and get lucky in your job search. With a smile on your face and working hard at the task, you’ll conquer the job search world!
And, of course, the very best of luck with your job search!
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About the author…
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
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As a marketing coach I work with many that tell me they aren’t lucky when it comes to getting new clients, but the reason is that they aren’t in control of their marketing and they are doing all of the wrong things.
When it comes to looking for a job, your resume and cover letter are clearly your marketing message. And I see people who are looking for a job making every last one of the same mistakes when writing a resume that business owners make in their marketing.
In a markeitng brochure . . . at least one that works, is NEVER about you, your products, or your services. It’s about the RESULTS that your clients get. Same for the resume. Stop talking about about you, your credentials, what you’ve done, and start talking about the measurable results your employers have gotten from you. Leave a value statement, such as, “department efficiency went up to almost double within 6 months” and watch how that next job interview changes from what you’ve done before.
[...] your lucky charm(s) with you. Scientific research shows that they do help you feel more confident! This is good for [...]
[...] Making Your Own Job Search Luck – Scientific research has shown that good luck “charms” do help people succeed in fields as diverse as golf and puzzle solving. So Susan P. Joyce, Job-Hunt’s Online Job Search Expert applied that research to the job search. Try it! It works! [...]