I spend every day talking to clients and students about finding jobs, changing careers, improving their current employment situations. Frankly, I couldn't go to work, if I didn’t believe that

good jobs exist

companies are hiring

targeting and getting good jobs is doable.

There’s no doubt it helps to have confidence in yourself and your abilities when you start a job search. Not always easy to do in a process that often involves so much disappointment, discouragement and rejection. Keeping yourself on an even emotional keel is almost as much work as the search itself. That’s why I advise people to exercise and socialize. Why I tell them to not trust to just one person’s assessment of their chances for success in a new company or a new field. Why I tell them to keep good records, not only of their contacts, but also of their accomplishments.

Then along comes a report in the media, saying how hard it is for (you pick the category) -- older workers, college grads, senior executives, female middle-managers -- to find work in this economy and the panic starts again.

I recently heard from a woman (Ask Ellis) who’d seen a story about older workers having a miserable time finding jobs. It played right into her worst fears. I had to remind her that negative stories sell. But they’re not always accurate because they’re telling just one side.

So what can you do when you’ve been looking for six months already and you read that the longer you’re out of work, the harder it is to get a job?

Ignore it. Find the job search techniques that work for you and keep at it. And then keep at it some more. As I said from the start, I know it's doable. I see it every day.