Out of Ideas? Try the "Reverse Destructive Guarantee"

After several rejections, your creative energy feels empty. You’ve tried everything: optimised CVs, tailored cover letters, perfect interviews. And yet – nothing. At this point, even positive advice can feel like a burden.

So let’s try something completely different today.

Instead of asking “How can I finally succeed?”, let’s ask the opposite question – with full destructive intention, and maybe even a little fun.

The “Guaranteed‑to‑Fail” Brainstorming Exercise

Grab a piece of paper (or open a blank document). Let’s collect as many actions, mindsets, and attitudes as possible that would guarantee that you never land your next job.

No censorship. Be as exaggerated, sarcastic, or darkly humorous as you like. The more specific, the better.

Here’s a starter list – add your own:

• Never talk to anyone. Applications only go out into the void via mass online portals.
• Use the exact same generic cover letter for every job – just swap the company name. Misspell that sometimes, too.
• List only your weaknesses in the interview. Start with “I’m usually late and don’t take feedback well.”
• Never follow up. An application is a one‑way street – throw it over the wall and forget it.
• Blame everything on “the system,”, “missing language skills,” “racism,” or “bad luck.” Stay in that feeling. Let it become your identity.
• Ignore your network completely. Never tell anyone you’re looking.
• Only apply to jobs you’re 150% overqualified for – or 50% underqualified. Nothing in between.
• Prepare nothing for interviews. Wing it. “I know myself well enough.”
• Dress in a way that makes you feel deeply uncomfortable (or the opposite: like you’re going to a beach party).
• Focus all your energy on what you cannot change: the job market, hidden biases, the economy.
• Never reflect on what went well. Only obsess over what went wrong.

Feel free to laugh. The point is not to be mean – the point is to unlock your creativity through the back door. Destruction can be strangely liberating.

Now Flip the List

Take every item above and turn it into a positive, actionable lever. You’ll notice something: each destructive behaviour points directly to a specific area where you do have power.

New Possibilities? Check Your Levers

Now look at your flipped list. Ask yourself:

• Where can I do more of this than I currently do? (Example: I could send two follow‑ups per week instead of none.)
• Where can I do something completely new? (Example: I have never asked a former colleague for a referral. Maybe I start there.)
• Where can I change my environment or boundaries? (Example: I only apply from home alone. What if I went to a co‑working space or library once a week? What if I joined a free Bewerbungswerkstatt for migrants?)

One of the most powerful shifts: refresh an existing contact or build a new, low‑pressure connection. For applicants with a migrant background, your unique perspective – language skills, cross‑cultural experience, resilience – is often invisible on paper. A real conversation makes it visible.

Your Invitation

Take your flipped list. Choose one small action for this week. Not ten things. One.

• Send a short message to someone you haven’t spoken to in six months.
• Rewrite the opening paragraph of your cover letter to be more personal.
• Prepare one interview story and record yourself on your phone (yes, it feels strange – do it anyway).

You have more agency than your exhaustion lets you see. And if you get stuck again? Ask yourself the reverse question one more time. The answer will surprise you.