Tips to maintain positive Mental Wellbeing during your Job Search

Before Lockdown there was a major focus on supporting our mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. If you were unemployed, there was little or no real support. If you don’t know already, maintaining your mental wellbeing when you’re unemployed and job searching is tough. Yet being upbeat and positive is a key element of a successful job search.

Silence from recruiters, not getting interviews, minimal feedback if you do but aren’t successful, can all chip away at your confidence and your self-worth.

Lockdown brings increased pressure and anxiety to what you’re already feeling. If you’re cooped up with the family there is no escape from the reminders that you need to get a job. If you’re on your own, lockdown can intensify the isolation and depression often experienced by job seekers. 

So what can you do to maintain your mental wellbeing to help power your job search.  The most important thing is to make your Job Searching your Job

·        Structure your day – having a structure to your day will help you focus on the right things, keeping you from becoming distracted and chaotic. Distraction and chaos can undermine our mental wellbeing very quickly. Structure and routine in our day helps maintain focus and purpose, helping us stay calm and alleviates our anxiety. Even the most impulsive and adventurous of us benefit from having some structure in our lives.

·        Set a start and end time to your day - this will not only help you concentrate on your job hunting activity, it also gives you the drive you get by having deadlines to meet when you’re in a role.

·        Create time slots for activity – creating time slots for activity like searching on Job Boards stops you getting sucked in and searching all day for fear of missing out. This only leads to frustration and anxiety.

·        Utilise all available job search channels – don’t just stick to applying for jobs on Job Boards. Use every channel open to you. Remember, experts quote that c.80% of new roles are never advertised. They’re discovered and secured through Networking.

·        Make time for you – setting a start and end time to your day leaves you guilt-free time to spend on yourself and still have time for friends and family. Very important for supporting positive mental wellbeing.

So what activity should you schedule in to your day or alternatively what are the responsibilities of your new job as a job seeker. Here’s some suggestions:

·        Read Job Alert emails – do this every 2 – 3 days, not every day because you’ll see the same jobs coming up time after time.

·        Search on job boards (including LinkedIn) – you can do this on the days you aren’t working through your Job Alerts. This will help you avoid seeing the same roles every time you search.

·        Networking – this means reaching out to existing contacts for; information, referrals or to research opportunities, and making new connections that support your job search networking strategy. LinkedIn will be your main resource for this, especially now, but don’t forget there are other options.

·        Research – research companies you want to work for or have applied to and research LinkedIn to find potentially helpful connections.

·        Applying for jobs –tweak your CV/Resume for each role, if you have the option to submit one, write a tailored covering letter for each role. And if you’re unlucky correct the online pre-populated application form.

·        Follow-up with recruiters – if you applied for a role, it’s not excessive to follow up with the recruiter if it’s been a week since you had an update, or if you had no update at all.

·        Be active on LinkedIn – being active on LinkedIn will help you raise the visibility of your profile with recruiters, hiring managers and contacts who may be able to help you. You can; comment on and like posts, share other people’s posts and other interesting content to your network or write and share your own posts and articles. It’s always a good idea to align this activity with your Personal Brand and your target industry or roles.

·        Brush up your skills – do you have a skills gap or is there something you’d like to add? There are many free training courses available see what you can find with a little help from Google or your favourite search engine.

Good Luck with your job search!