With Thanksgiving only a few days away, it’s the season to consult Martha Stewart for job search advice.

In a book published in 2005 entitled ‘The Martha Rules’, Ms. Stewart defined ten essentials for achieving business success. Let’s focus on #8 – “The pie isn’t perfect? Cut it into wedges – When faced with a business challenge, evaluate or assess the situation, gather the good things in sight, abandon the bad, clear your mind and move on.”

How do you apply this to your job search? Maybe the thought of competing in this economy is just overwhelming. Or, you’ve been going through a series of first round interviews and none have materialized into a full time offer. You have a business challenge. Time to assess you progress. What have you learned from the process so far? Are you focused on the rejections or the possibilities?

The job search is difficult. It requires a lot of hard work. You may be discouraged by rejection. Rather than focusing on the negative, use this holiday break as a point to leave the bad behind and as Martha says, clear your mind and move on.

To be successful in a job search today you need to honestly evaluate your strengths. What’s your area of expertise? Which employers can best use your skill set? Don’t waste time on job listings that don’t match your talents. If you find a perfect match, but the employer decides you’re not qualified, move on to the next one on your list.

Which brings me to Martha rule #6: ”Quality every day – Strive for quality in every decision, every day.” There are no short cuts. Approach each new opportunity with the energy of your first choice.