Job-seekers and Employers, if you would like to discuss how OpSource Staffing Inc. can help you call us at (866) 870-8133 or Contact Us.
How To Avoid Burnout During Your Job Search
Looking for a job is exhausting – physically, mentally and emotionally – which can cause you to experience burnout. Physically, a job search
takes time, hours per week on a regular basis for months. Mentally, you need to stay on top of the industries and companies you are targeting, the people you have met and where you are in the process for various jobs. Emotionally, there will be ups and downs as some applications turn into interviews, but some go nowhere. Anticipate that your energy will wane during your job search, and plan in advance how you will get re-energized and re-motivated. Heading off signs of burnout ensures that you continue your job search
efforts at a regular cadence, rather than start and stop. Regular and ongoing action will best help you land a new role.
Here are five ways to avoid burnout during your job search:
1 – Schedule regular breaks as part of your job search
routine
You might want to research every company on your target list at once to get it over with, but if you don’t take a break, you are more likely to gloss over important details. If you plow through all your networking calls at once, you may sound robotic and therefore disingenuous. If you fill your day with back-to-back activity, you leave no space for an inspired idea to come to you – such as remembering a former colleague you can reach out to or recognizing that something you learned could be of interest to one of your target companies.
Whether you input specific breaks into your calendar or set an alarm to ring every one to two hours, actually schedule your breaks. In addition, make plans for your breaks so you are excited to take them, and you pick activities that refresh you. A walk, a special coffee, or one episode of your favorite sitcom are short ways to refresh. Also plan for a longer break every few days – go out in nature, or see a friend (you can have a virtual lunch if you’re sheltering in place).
2 – Tame your negative self-talk
Sometimes it’s not too much work, but not starting at all that you need to overcome. Many job seekers
put off reaching out to their network or applying for jobs
because the negative voice in their head tells them they’re not ready to start or not worthy of being hired. You’ll need to tame your negative self-talk before it talks you out of your job search.
Naming the voice is one way of taming the voice. When you name the voice, you put it outside of yourself. You can notice it and choose to let it go. You can even pick a funny name for your negative voice (like Newman, if you’re a Seinfeld fan) to give it less power. If you have a positive voice that comes up, name that one too, and call for it when Newman shows up.
3 – Keep a running list of wins
The emotional ups and downs of a job search
can drain your confidence if you’re not careful. Keep a running list of wins – not just job search-related but in all areas of your life. Note even small positive moments of serendipity, like picking the fastest-moving line at the grocery. When you fall into a bad mood, refer to your list of wins for a pick-me-up.
Having a ready list of wins is a great tool for getting your mindset ready before an interview or networking meeting. Knowing your job search-related wins also gives you something positive to say when people inevitably ask you how your search is going. You can respond with a laundry list of what you have accomplished, and then people will know you’re on top of things and won’t give you unsolicited advice!
4 – Surround yourself with success stories
In addition to your own wins, you can lean on the wins of others. Look for articles of successful people in the industries and roles you’re interested in. Look for articles about people getting hired – regardless of industry or role. Seeing that other people have accomplished what you want to accomplish makes it appear more doable.
The professional association related to your industry or functional area may publish profiles of successful members. Or you can find profiles in business publications, such as Forbes, Fast Company, Inc, etc.
5 – Have a cheerleader to call
Everyone should have a cheerleader in their network (if you don’t, build your network to include this and other key supporters). A cheerleader is the friend who is always your champion. They may not have advice or ideas or feedback for you, but they always have encouraging words of support. Cheerleaders are optimistic and enthusiastic, so you can count on them for an infusion of energy.
Don’t have a regular pity party – you don’t want to drive your cheerleader away. But sometimes you may need to vent, or at least say candidly how you feel, and a cheerleader is someone who won’t be brought down by your negativity. In fact, their enthusiasm is often contagious and just speaking to them can help you bounce back, whether you talk about your job search
specifically or not.
The job search
is a marathon and
a sprint
You want to have a cheerleader, success stories and the other three tactics available to you to keep you going in your job search
so you don’t burnout. The day-in, day-out nature of a job search
is much like a marathon, where you need to be prepared for a long journey.
That said, the most productive job search
has a sense of urgency and speed – you want to be the first to apply, or ideally hear about jobs
before they are broadly posted. In this way, the job search
is also a sprint, and you can use these tactics as energy boosts to propel your search forward while avoiding burnout.
Article Provided By: Forbes
Related Posts
Advantages: 1. Strategically balance labor needs and production levels by bringing in workers when they need them and then letting them go when they do not. 2. Convert a historically fixed labor cost to a variable one while shifting liabilities for unemployment, EEOC matters, benefits, and worker's compensation to a third party. 3. Use of contracted suppliers to manage low-skilled tasks leads to better outcomes at a lower cost. 4. Purchasing and finance departments save money on what companies pay for the hourly bill rate. Disadvantages: 1. Large disparity in pay between full-time regular employees and temps gives rise to a wide gap in the quality and dedication levels between the two types of workers. 2. Temporary workers display lower morale, higher absenteeism, greater turnover, less efficiency, and poorer work quality as compared to their full-time counterparts. 3. Decreased business efficiency as more labor hours are required to get the same amount of work done, largely due to exorbitant turnover and absenteeism, as well as constant restraining.
