How to manage job search stress
Updated 2024-08-03. Originally published 2013-09-09 on VocationVillage.com
No doubt about it, most people hunting for employment experience job search stress.
“I would rather have steak stapled to my body and be thrown into shark-invested waters than have to go through a job search.” - Lilith L., happily employed Senior Computer Specialist, in a posting to a networking forum.
Perhaps you feel like Ms. L. quoted above. If you need to find a new job, here are some proven strategies to make the process less awful:
Narrow your focus and write your goals
An important way to reduce overwhelm and job search stress is to narrow your focus. Define what you want, write a structured game plan to achieve your goals, and then share the information with a friend. Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University conducted a study about the value of writing goals and she found that people who wrote their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely thought about their goals.
Stay in the present and avoid “awfulizing”
Stay focused on the day’s tasks rather than letting your mind drift to future anxieties. Think, “Today I will do these three things,” rather than, “I hate searching for a job and I don’t want to be doing and what if I can’t get a job?” In psychology-speak, exaggerating the bad is called “Awfulizing.” Instead of awfulizing, follow your plan, and trust that good results will come from your effort.
Use stress reduction practices
If you find that your anxiety is overwhelming you, try one of the following proven stress reducers: join a job search support group, exercise, do self-hypnosis, meditate, listen to music, read escapist books, spend time in nature, and enjoy the company of family or friends who will talk about something other than your job search (unless you specifically ask them to talk about it). If you find you are experiencing anxiety that is debilitating, seek treatment from a professional who specializes in anxiety reduction.
Leave your house
Don’t just sit at home and apply for jobs online. Doing a job search that way is likely to make you feel terrible because this is the single best way to get rejected a lot. Get out of the house and attend meet ups, do volunteer work, freelance, or consult. Federal research found that people who volunteer are 27% more likely to land a job than people who don’t volunteer, so in addition to giving back to the world, you actually improve your own odds of landing a job, too. It is a win-win.
Tackle resistance
As you implement your game plan, pay attention to the feelings that arise. Sometimes action creates momentum that fuels forward progress. But other times, action triggers resistance. Kurt Lewin, a well-known social and organizational psychologist, said that the best way to understand something is to try to change it. When change triggers resistance, explore the resistance, because doing so yields clues to important feelings that will probably affect the outcome of your job search. Perhaps the resistance is because you really don’t want the jobs you are seeking, or deep down you really want to go back to school, or you are embroiled in a family conflict about what you should do, and you need to work through that before job searching. Once you figure out what is going on, you can do something about your feelings rather than let them sabotage your job search.
Fine tune
Use feedback from each step of your job search to improve your efforts in the next step. If your resume is not generating interviews, read about effective resumes, and ask other people for an honest critique. Improve your resume and then market test the revised version. If you are getting interviews but no offers, get some interview coaching from colleagues or a career coach. Read more about how to prepare for a job interview.
Pay it forward
Finally, pay it forward. Once you land your new job, and your job search stress is over, cultivate good karma by being responsive and courteous to prospective job seekers who contact you in your new role. Remember what it was like to be going through a job search and try to be kind to those who are still on the hunt.
Do you have questions about job search stress? Please send them to me, and I may feature your question in a future article.
