Your #1 Job Battle: Discouragement
No doubt about it, looking for a job day after day not only gets boring, it’s frustrating and isolating. Some days you sit at your computer from the time you get up, until you go to bed. You follow up on your network, continue to improve your resume, read the job boards, make phone calls, send emails, and at the end of the day, you frequently feel you have nothing to show for your diligence. When the family comes home, your spouse asks, with as little tension as possible, how your search went that day.
Looking for a job is not for the faint of heart, and today you are one of millions of people who are out of work fighting the daily blues.
Job Search Discouragement is your number one battle!
Maybe you are wondering, that’s odd, I thought my first priority is to get focused, write my resume, and start calling contacts. Yes, these are all the right tactics, but your number one priority is plan how to beat job search depression. Once job search depression sets in, you can become paralyzed. You won’t want to get up, get onto the computer, or make any calls at all. It happens to most every job seeker at some level.
So, how do you beat job search depression?
First, deal with your anger toward your last company, your former boss, and the colleagues still working there. Why me! Why did I get laid off, and not them. Let the anger go. Once you recognize you are hurt, you are shocked, and you are really angry, do something with your feelings. Some people find relief in journal writing their feelings. Others meet with a Career Coach to move through initial job loss pain and to get refocused. Losing a job ignites a deep response in our souls. It feels like the ultimate form of disrespect. You will react and you should. You should get angry because a job loss for no reason is just wrong. But once you feel it, write it, talk it out, move forward toward healing. You will likely need to forgive the people who hurt you. And, then you will be free to move forward.
Second, quickly establish a routine for yourself. Get up at the same time, and go to bed at the same time. Do your computer research for part of each day, and then go out for several hours daily.
Third, exercise. Get to the gym every day or work out outside. Your anger and fear of the future will lessen as you keep your body in shape.
Fourth, volunteer in your community, somewhere where you will meet with people, expand your network, and continue to live with purpose.
Fifth, communicate with your inner circle of friends and family. Let them know where you are focusing, what job, and what industry. Don’t expect them, however, to give you expert career counsel. Simply keep them abreast of your plans. Not only will they give you accountability, but just talking about your weekly comings and goings will help you to feel normal. You are the same person, going about a daily routine, engaging with others every day.
Finally, pray. Ask God to give you the perseverance to keep at the job search every day. There is a scripture that separates our role from God’s. Basically, to use a farming example, we plant the seeds and water them, but God gives the growth. You can’t force someone to hire you, but you can plant seeds every day with calls and emails to your contacts by focusing forward toward your next career.
Jan Shurtz can be contacted by email: janshurtz@gmail.com
