Using Intuition in Your Job Search

by Robert DiGiacomo, for Yahoo! HotJobs

Today's challenging business climate means that a strong resume, numerous well-nurtured contacts, and your sharpest power suit may not be enough to take you to the next step in your career. You may also need to hone a less tangible tool: your intuition.

"In an environment where we just don't know the conditions, the old rules and formulas don't apply," says life coach James Wanless, the author of "Intuition @ Work & at Home and at Play." "We have to feel our way intuitively. We have to feel it out and trust it and go for it."

Although some people are born with such instincts, others can learn them as they would any skill.

Here are five ways you can use intuition to help guide your career:

Gut Check
Your body is trying to send you a message if you feel nauseous during a job interview or business meeting, according to Dr. Judith Orloff, the author of "Second Sight" and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA.

"The neurotransmitters in your gut are the same neurotransmitters as in the brain," Orloff says. "At the very minimum, they're telling you to be cautious if you decide to go into this deal, take the job, or hire this employee."

Making Heads or Tails of a Decision
Are you genuinely torn between two opportunities? Flipping a coin can help you sort out the dilemma, Wanless says. But don't focus on which option "wins" the coin toss; instead, focus on how you feel about the outcome.

"It's your reaction to the winner that's your answer. Sometimes we just can't discern what we're actually feeling because we have so many conflicting ideas."

Career Dreams
Put your dreams to work when trying to resolve a career-related concern.

At bedtime, ask yourself a specific question. When you wake up, write down whatever you remember from the night's dreams, no matter how unrelated the details may seem.

Repeat this process for a week, and you're likely to gain new insights.

"You're training your subconscious to work for you," Orloff says. "When people make big decisions, it's better to sleep on it than keep thinking about it. The brain knows what to do. It doesn't need an alert mind to direct it."

Coincidence or Not?
You've just decided to look for a new job, and then you run into an old colleague who shares a lead. Or you renew a contact with a former boss, just as he or she is hiring for a new venture.

For Orloff, these synchronicities are about "being in a zone, like an athlete at their peak performance. It's listening to the flow of life and not being in your head and missing anything."

The Right State of Mind
Connect with a recruiter or make a winning business pitch by training your mind to believe in your success.

"You actually visualize the interview in a successful way--if you see it, you can be it," Wanless says. "The most important part of the successful mind state is to affirm yourself. You have to get rid of the inner critic."

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