March/April 2010
dancing at your desk

Intuitive Job Search
How to proceed with grace, ease & success

by Sue Frederick

You’ve updated your resume. You’ve gone to career workshops, revamped your wardrobe, and Googled for jobs. If you’re still not seeing any promising results, it’s time to try something new. Start using the powerful energy inside of you, your intuition, to guide you to the work you’re supposed to do. When you master the art of listening to your intuition, it’s like revving up your job-search engine and giving it super-powers.

Consider how much time you’ve spent looking for a new job the “normal” way, the countless hours copying and sending resumes, cold-calling networking connections, or contacting Human Resource directors. Not only have those tactics failed to work for you, but they’re also tedious, even demeaning and depressing when the results aren’t positive.What would happen if you used all those hours to check in with your intuition instead?

Try it right now: think of someone you’re planning to call about a job. Write their name down on paper, and place your hand over the name. Try a little meditation technique (described below) to quiet your mind. After a few minutes of quieting your busy and frantic mind, ask, “Should I call this person today? How will the conversation go? Is there someone else I should call instead? Or somewhere else I should look for a job today?”

Wait for a response in your body, not your mind. When you get a feeling in your body, hear a voice, or see a picture in your head, pay attention to it. Write it down. Does this “gut” feeling put a smile on your face? Or does it make you feel heavy, tired, afraid or depressed?

When you get a good feeling in your body, or find yourself easily smiling in response to the question, that’s an intuitive “yes.” Learn to tell the difference between this kind of gut level response and answers that come from your “chatty” mind, which are usually telling you what you “should” do next.

Get into the practice of pausing and tapping into your intuition before dialing an important phone number, going to a meeting, or making a big decision. Regularly tapping into your intuition before taking action will bring grace, ease and success into your everyday tasks. You’ll know the best time to make cold-calls, when to ask for a raise, and when to close a significant business deal.

Before going to a job interview or a critical meeting, quiet your mind and ask to see how the energy of the meeting or interview feels. Your “gut” response will tell you if people are coming to the meeting with opposition to your idea, or with excitement. It will also tell you the feeling in the room before a job interview.

If you feel the energy is not positive, spend a few minutes visualizing the meeting going well: wrap the room in light, and send love and gratitude to the people you’ll be meeting with. Do this until you see the people smile and feel the energy in the room shift to the positive.

To find your true career or even just your next job, it’s essential to tap into this intuitive guidance. Every answer you need is already available to you; until you understand that, you’re at the mercy of every passing opinion or criticism of your life, which will certainly throw you off course.

The first step is realizing that you are not your thoughts. You are an energy being, a pulsing wave of light connected to the energetic fabric that makes up the entire universe. In quantum physics this is known as the membrane theory, which says we are all made of the same stuff: pulsing waves of light that connect everything and everyone in the universe.

You are not your physical body or the crazy thoughts that your mind creates. Your higher self knows this and doesn’t identify with the limitations of the seen world. Your higher self is the only reliable place to go for guidance.

You can tap into your higher self through prayer and meditation, and by using your intuition. Getting this kind of information is a very different process from using your mind to guide you, which can take you far from the destiny you’ve come here to fulfill. The correct course of action requires sitting still and shutting up, at least once a day.
Learn to stop the constant chatter of your mind that fills your head with fear and negative beliefs about what’s possible for you.

Many spiritual traditions have this formula figured out. Whether you call it prayer (such as the Our Father), mantra (sacred word or phrase such as Om Namah Shivaya), or following your breath, you will begin to experience the consciousness inside you that is separate from and greater than your mind.

Try this before making your next cold call or going to your next job interview:
Sit comfortably without letting your head lean against anything (a sure way to fall asleep). Take several deep, releasing breaths.

Silently repeat either Om Namah Shivaya or the Our Father. If neither of these work for you, use a sound or word of your choice; try “peace” or “calm.” Sit for ten minutes silently repeating these words.

When you notice your mind wandering to other thoughts, gently bring it back to your mantra or prayer. Don’t struggle. Be gentle.

After 10 minutes, slowly stop repeating the words. In this quiet gap before getting up and going back to your routine, ask for guidance. You can simply say, “Show me my next step for manifesting my destined work.” Write down any insights you gain or guidance you receive.

Or ask, “Of all the jobs I’m looking at, which one should I pursue first?” Or, “Which of these jobs is right for me?”

You’ll soon be able to tap into your intuition quickly and effortlessly—but like any new task, it requires practice. There are countless small ways to hone your intuitive skills throughout the day. Here’s one example: before heading home, ask your intuition “Should I take this route or the other route?” Listen for an answer and follow that guidance. Afterwards, reflect on how the commute went for you. Was it easier than usual? Was there less traffic?

Here’s another way to practice: before going to meet someone new, write down their name and place your hand over the name. Quiet your mind and ask to see what the person looks like. Get a picture of them in your head. Or draw the image you see. When you meet the person, make a note of how close your image was to their actual appearance. Keep practicing until you realize how good you are at this.

After only a little practice, you’ll start to become a master at intuitive living, which will put you in the flow of life and make your life and career more successful and graceful than ever before.