Looking for work? Your mindset could be hampering your search

Searching for a job can be arduous, particularly amid economic and technological change. A significant obstacle many job seekers face lies in their own restrictive beliefs about securing employment. These sometimes unconscious assumptions can hinder them from fully embracing effective strategies and opportunities in their job search.

Mindsets about human plasticity

People tend to hold implicit beliefs about the plasticity of their abilities, commonly referred to as mindsets. A fixed mindset assumes that abilities are static – success in certain areas like math or music is thereby attributed to inherent talent, while failure signals an immutable weakness.

By contrast, a growth mindset presumes that abilities are malleable and are developed via a concerted effort over time. From the view of a growth mindset, success reflects the process of having worked hard to develop one’s capabilities, while failure signifies a need for more effort or better strategies to hone the required skills – a perspective that offers a more inspiring view, emphasising the potential for personal growth and the motivation to strive for it.

Most people are unaware of their mindsets or their impact. Yet four decades of research reveals that these simple beliefs about human plasticity have a huge impact on people’s thoughts, feelings and actions, particularly in the face of challenges.

Namely, fixed compared to growth mindsets often lead to defeatist thinking, excessive worrying and premature abandonment of goals.

Aside from a few exceptions (e.g., Heslin et al. 2005, 2006), most of this research has been conducted in academic settings with school-age children, focused on the educational challenges they confront in and beyond the classroom. We focused on conducting field research to explore how the mindsets of working-age adults potentially affected their approach to job search challenges.

Mindsets about job search abilities

Our research involved in-depth interviews with employees from a defunded Australian industry skills council. Facing the urgent need to find new jobs, these individuals provided insights into their beliefs about their job search abilities, in the realms of networking, negotiating and interviewing.

Fixed mindsets: a focus on what I inherently can’t do

We discovered that when job seekers held a fixed mindset about their networking, negotiating, or interviewing ability, they routinely blamed their presumably static personality for not being “the kind of person” who is inherently “good” at a particular aspect of job search. One participant lamented, “I think my introversion will always get in the way,” citing it as a permanent barrier to networking and negotiating.

Such mindsets also led to oversimplified and discouraging depictions of job search tasks. Networking, for example, was described by one individual as akin to “a schoolyard full of strangers and hoping someone wants to play with your ball.” This outlook discouraged meaningful engagement with the multifaceted process of networking, including social media interaction, follow-ups with contacts, or offering resources to others.

Job seekers with fixed mindsets frequently labelled themselves in ways that reinforced their perceived limitations, saying things like, “I’m not a salesperson,” to explain why they struggled with networking. These self-imposed labels often served as barriers to experimentation with new job search strategies.

Growth mindsets: a focus on what I potentially could do

In contrast, job seekers with growth mindsets approached challenges with optimism and adaptability. They acknowledged learning from colleagues, such as observing managers negotiating effectively, and saw their age and experience as assets rather than liabilities. Labels were still used, but in a positive way, emphasising the potential for development – for instance, “I’m a trainer… it’s all about learning.”

Interestingly, while labelling has often been associated with fixed mindsets, our findings suggest that people with a growth mindset use them too, but in ways that help them see themselves as adaptable learners.

Growth-minded job seekers also found value in reflecting on negative experiences. For example, some shared stories of failed interviews that became learning opportunities, ultimately contributing to their success.

Mindsets during job search: what can job seekers do?

If you recognise a fixed mindset in your approach to job hunting, don’t despair. Mindsets, while stable, are not immutable. Strategies from books and research can help shift a fixed mindset toward a growth mindset. Reflecting on past experiences when you overcame challenges can also reinforce your capacity for development.

Working with a career counsellor or accountability partner can further help dismantle limiting beliefs, encouraging you to adopt more of a growth mindset. Even within our study, no one displayed a fixed mindset across all job search abilities. For example, some exhibited a growth mindset for interviewing, but a fixed or even mixed mindset in networking. Leveraging your growth mindset in one area can inspire you to approach other areas with a more growth-oriented perspective too.

This article is based on “Is the devil in the details? A qualitative exploration of differentiated mindsets during job search”, Applied Psychology, 2024.

Lauren A. Keating, Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Psychology, EM Lyon Business School and Peter A. Heslin, Professor of Management and Scientia Education Academy Fellow, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.