Job Hunting is Brutal Right Now: Here’s How To Stay Motivated
Often the clients I work with are looking for a new role either because they have lost their job or are finding the current role that they have unsatisfying. And as people will tell you, looking for a new role currently is not for the fainthearted.
Irrespective of your role, industry or level of expertise it is brutal out there.
Why Does Job Searching Feel So Lonely?
If you are not working at the moment then you have the added financial and social pressures to deal with. Looking for a new job is a lonely activity. Often it is just you and your laptop and LinkedIn and endless cups of coffee looking for that light at the end of the tunnel.
Why isn't anything working, even when you're doing everything right?
You have done all the right things. You have updated your profile on job sites, you have activated your network and you have updated and customised your CV, you may even have had new headshots taken but nothing is happening.
It is tough, very tough and it is hard to remain focused and upbeat at this point in your job search.
What are the things that can help when you start to feel your mood and your confidence dropping?
These are some of the things I recommend to my clients:
1. Find a mentor and talk with them regularly. Mentors can come from any part of your life, you just need someone with a different perspective to you and ideally more experience who can help with encouragement and ideas when things are starting to feel hard.
2. Sitting at your desk (or wherever you sit) doesn’t equate with being busy or working hard. Give yourself permission to get up and go out. Go for a wander, just walk somewhere you want to go because you have time and the freedom to do so. Once you have a new job you won’t be this free again.
3. I like to write quotes from things I read that inspire me into a notebook that from time to time I go back to and read. I will always find something that makes me feel a little better. One from today was ‘Create don’t Hope”.
4. Read a book or listen to a podcast, or find a new writer to enjoy on Substack. Engage with something that you will enjoy and results from someone else’s creativity.
5. Write a dream for the future. Think about what you want from the next few years and start there. Now you have your answer, if this is what you are aiming for, how do you work back from there? What are the next steps you need to take, this week, next week, next month and so on.
6. Try to meet one new person every week. Ask your former colleagues and your friends to introduce you to one new person from their network and then set out to have a coffee with them and if that isn’t possible have a zoom call. Something that leads to conversation and connection.
Will These Steps Guarantee a New Job?
I can’t promise that these actions will lead to you finding another job but what I can offer is that they will certainly make you feel better and more connected to your world again.
Is it time to visit your purpose?
If you have a personal purpose, revisit it. Does your personal purpose still work for you or does it need a refresh? If you want to talk it over with me please feel free to get in touch.
