7 Ways To Keep Your Sanity While Job Searching
You send out 10 cover letters and resumes a day. You search new job listings twice daily. You’ve been on dozens of interviews. It’s been months and months, yet you still don’t have a job, and you’re now bald from pulling your hair out.
Job searching can drive anyone crazy.
My sister has been looking for a position in the music industry for the past six months. She’s sent out countless resumes, went on a bunch of interviews, but she still hasn’t been able to find anything. It’s becoming very frustrating for her, but I’m helping her stay positive, driven, and focused.
If you’re in the same boat, here are seven ways to keep your sanity while on the job hunt.
1. Schedule your hunting times
The best bet is to look up job listings twice a day. Once in the morning and then once towards the evening when the business day is over, which is the time when new postings slow down on job sites.
Then decide how long you want to search for. Perhaps one hour or two hours each morning and evening.
You don’t want your hunting to be random because then you’ll mistakenly turn it into an all-day affair and you won’t be able to cut loose.
2. Don’t tell your friends/family about every interview
They probably mean well and want you to succeed, but you don’t need to tell your friends and family members about every interview you go on or every job you applied for.
If you do, then they’re just going to keep pestering you with questions or they’ll feed you more negativity like, “It’s the worst economy since the Great Depression.”
You just don’t need this unnecessary pressure.
3. Don’t apply if you’re not really excited
I know that desperation sets in quickly when job searching, but don’t apply for just any old jobs. You have to be genuinely enthusiastic with an industry, company, and position. Otherwise, you’re wasting people’s time, including yours.
4. Remind yourself of your great qualities
Do not beat yourself up when you don’t get a job. It’s not usually you’re lack of qualities; there’s a million factors that go into choosing a new employee.
Just remind yourself of:
- How driven you are
- Your experience
- Your personality
- What you did and said well on your interview
5. Do your research but don’t “stalk”
Obviously when you’re applying for a position you must research the company, the employees, and the company’s history. The same goes for before you go on an interview. However, after you’ve sent in your cover letter and resume to one company, move on to the next job. You don’t want to keep researching about a company and its employees for too long. You’ll become so focused on one company that you start reading every little article about the business and then if you don’t get the job, you’ll be crushed and frustrated that you wasted all that time.
6. Take a break – enjoy the weekends
Job searching is a full-time job itself. You deserve some time off from your pursuit. You won’t be missing much; how many listings are added on Saturdays and Sundays besides what’s printed in the papers?
If you don’t want to totally relax on the weekends, use the time to polish your resume or to stay up-to-date on your industry by reading articles.
7. Remember: You WILL get a job
It may take some time, but you will not be unemployed for the rest of your life. As long as you work hard, persist, and stay positive, you will find employment. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
Have any tips for job hunters to stay cool, calm, and collected while searching? Please share in the comments below.
Related articles:
- How to suck it up and deal with a job you can’t stand
- 15 benefits and lessons we now have from the economic crisis
- The Ultimate Survival Technique For The Economic Crisis
Photo by Martin Kingsley
2 Responses to “7 Ways To Keep Your Sanity While Job Searching”
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Good points here, especially point three. It caused a bit of friction with people at the time because I was out of work for several months (stigma of unemployment, money worries, etc.), but by holding out for jobs that genuinely appealed to me, I ended up in a better position than if I’d just jumped straight into the first job I could find. If you’re interested, I wrote a post on how I made the most of those months unemployed.
Hey James,
That’s great that you held out for a position you were more enthusiastic about. You certainly don’t want to be stuck with something you hate.
Great article too! The title is very similar, we think alike
-Andrew