If you're searching for a job, consider this Zen koan, or paradox.

A man sees our Zen hero, Nasrudin, down on his knees groping around in the dirt. "What are you looking for?" asks the man. "My keys," replies Nasrudin. The man kneels down to help search. "Are you sure you lost them in this vicinity?" asks the man. "No, I lost them in my house," says Nasrudin. "Then, why are you looking here?" asks the man. "Because," answers Nasrudin, "the light is better here."

Too often, people search for jobs where it's easiest to look for them. But that's also where the greatest competition is and where the odds of success are smallest. Stop and think: Before jobs are listed in the ads, and before the world knows about them, where are they? Who knows about them? Maybe you should be looking there.

Job interviews make you nervous. You never know what questions you'll be asked or how the interviewer might try to trip you up. Your last two meetings were failures, and you're worried the next one will go south, too. It seems nothing you do to prepare calms your nerves. What can you do to avoid failing the next interview?

1. Take a nap just before the interview. This will make you calm.

2. Change your behavior in interviews. That will help you improve your attitude.

3. Don't volunteer information. Just answer questions and you won't get so nervous.

4. Tell the interviewer you perform better on the job than you do in interviews.

(Cast your vote for The Headhunter Challenge poll online at (your newspaper Web site here). We'll post the results along with The Headhunter's expert opinion.)

Are you scared? Afraid you will fail? Then you probably will.

The research on self-fulfilling prophecy suggests that people predict their own future, and then they wind up making it happen exactly the way they predicted. It's how negative thoughts can adversely affect your behavior.

For example, if you think you are going to miss a basket when playing basketball, you will get so tense that you will twitch or lose fine control of your shooting arm and you will probably miss the basket. If you think you are going to be nervous in an interview, you will make yourself nervous.

This kind of anxious, insecure thinking is like a personal prediction, or prophecy, that we make. We make it come true as though we want to prove we were right.

Once a person starts on this vicious cycle of predicting-then-causing failure, the consequences can be debilitating. The negative attitude just grows. The good news is that change is possible. It just takes a little time and practice.

The way it works is this: Don't try to change your attitude. Fears and thoughts are difficult to pinpoint and control. Your behavior, on the other hand, is easier to recognize and change. Focus on your behavior and change that if you want to control your fears.

Act the way you wish you could be acting -- the way you know is right. Do it in steps, even if they are just small ones. Then take the next step, the next positive action, no matter how small, no matter how imperfect. Do it the best way you know how. But do it.

For example, if the beginning of an interview makes you very nervous, change your behavior. Rather than wait for the meeting to start, start it yourself. If you're afraid about the first question the interviewer is going to ask you, then jump in and ask the interviewer a question yourself. Make it something simple: "So, what brought you to this company?" Let the interviewer talk while you listen, relax and get comfortable in your surroundings.

Such small behaviors create small successes that will help calm your nerves. These will encourage you to do more. The little successes will become bigger successes. You will start to believe more in yourself. You will start to trust yourself. You will start predicting success for yourself. The positive reaction of the interviewer will in turn produce behavior that results in more self-confidence.

The most important thing to remember is that you don't have to do it all at once. Do it step-by-step. For example, after the meeting starts, don't sit back fearfully. Lean forward toward the interviewer. Rather than nervously answering questions, respond briefly and then offer your own observations about the topic -- and you'll change what seems to be an interrogation into a friendly dialogue. Your attitude about the interviewer will become more positive and you will behave more effectively.

To change your prophecy about interviews, change your behavior. Start by studying the company you will meet with. Get the facts under your belt. Be prepared to have a friendly talk about the company. You will feel more confident because you will be in control. This will reduce your fear and anxiety about interviews. Consequently, you will interview more effectively and more successfully.