7 Ways You Can Stay Motivated During a Prolonged Job Search
Lori Béen, Career Coach
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The job market has become more and more competitive in recent months, thus making the job search a much longer process. A prolonged job search can be demoralizing and can do a real number on your motivation and self esteem. Here are my top 7 ways to stay motivated.
7 ways to stay motivated in your job search
1. Expect there to be highs and lows, and learn how to manage your emotions
A job search can be an emotional rollercoaster, so accept that it’s normal to have feelings of frustration, disappointment and self-doubt, along with hope, excitement and anxiousness (both the good and the bad kind).
When the negative emotions start to overwhelm you, remind yourself to:
2. Focus your time and energy on what’s working
Many career coaches will tell you that to be successful in your job search, you should be consistent. While this can be helpful to an extent, sometimes it’s poor advice.
“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity,” said Albert Einstein NEVER. Yeah, he often gets credited for this famous quote, but I fact-checked it and it wasn’t him. Actually, no one really knows for sure who said it.
Regardless, the statement makes a lot of sense, and should be taken into consideration in your job search strategy. Nothing can be more frustrating and time-consuming for example, than applying to dozens or even hundreds of online job postings and never getting a response.
If you’ve been in a prolonged job search (meaning six to twelve months), it’s time to evaluate what has worked on some level, even if it’s led to just some small successes. It makes sense to put more time and energy into those strategies, while dumping the ones that don’t work at all. Doing so could bring new energy and momentum to your search.
You can always go back and incorporate the other strategies at any point you think it’s necessary. But for now, focus on what works so you can get some more wins and start re-gaining your confidence.
3. Realize and accept what you have control over
Here’s another energy-saver: instead of focusing on those things outside your control (i.e., company responses, or lack thereof), understand what you do have control over. This includes:
4. Set realistic and achievable goals
Instead of setting a goal of calling five of your networking contacts this afternoon, set a goal of calling your contacts for two to three hours.
What’s the difference you may ask? With the first goal, you may not reach all five people in the same afternoon. Or, your first few conversations may go longer than you expect, and you run out of time to call the remaining two contacts. When this happens, you can easily feel like you’ve failed at your goal.
However, you’re much more likely to accomplish your goal of making calls for a certain duration of time, regardless of how many people you reach. It’s a much easier box to check off your to-do list, thus helping you stay motivated.
This is just one example of how to set goals resulting in success. Use it as a strategy to set additional goals in your job search.
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5. Consider your qualifications in your approach
To do this, you may need to look at some patterns again, like you did in #2. Do you see a pattern of applying for jobs where you’re underqualified, qualified or overqualified?
If you have a pattern of applying to jobs for which you’re way too underqualified, you may need to bring your skills up to par by taking some online courses or getting a certification. Or, you may need to be more realistic in the jobs you’re seeking.
If you usually apply for jobs where you’re overqualified, you should understand employers often view overqualified candidates as a liability, not an asset. They assume those candidates will expect more salary than the job pays, so they don’t consider those candidates.
Is your tendency to stay in your comfort zone and only apply to jobs equal to your current role’s qualifications? Many job seekers mistakenly assume they can only apply to jobs where they meet each and every requirement of the posting.
If this is your tendency, you need to aim higher. Otherwise, how do you ever expect your career to advance? Also, employers will wonder if you’re lacking in professional goals or if you’re afraid of a new challenge.
Look for positions considered to be the next step up from your current role, and show in your marketing materials (i.e., your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, etc.) how your past progression has qualified you for this next step and how you can easily grow into the new challenges of the role.
By considering your qualifications and targeting the right level of roles, you’re likely to get more responses than before, thus increasing your confidence and helping you stay motivated.
6. Consider your focus in your approach
Just like employers view a lack of professional goals as a red flag, they’re also wary of a candidate with a lack of focus. You may remember one of my previous blog posts about this topic, but if not, I’ll link it here.
Employers can tell when you have no focus in your job search and you’re applying for just about anything and everything. It’s a huge turn-off to them, and their lack of interest in you as a candidate can therefore cause your motivation to take a nose-dive.
Setting specific goals is just as important as setting realistic and achievable goals.
7. Reach out for help
Many people come to me not knowing what they want to do next in their job search. For those who don’t want to take the time to go through the process of figuring out their focus and aim, and just want to jump into assistance with the job search, they end up prolonging their job search even more.
You need to know what you’re aiming for, as stated in #6. Figuring this out first saves you time in the long-run. While you may not be able to articulate it yet, I can guide you in discovering and articulating your focus.
If you already know what you’re aiming for in your job search, I can teach you both the tried and true tactics and out-of-the-box strategies to go after it, which will help you stay motivated not just in your current job search, but also throughout your career.
Click here to get started and stay motivated.