Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I was recently let go from my job and have been hunting for a little over a month.
My question is how do you keep sane throughout the process? From going on 2nd and 3rd interviews and still not getting the job, to customizing and cover letter and resume after cover letter and resume and still not hearing back, to going after smaller companies where you can avoid the whole "I hope my resume makes it through the software", to just applying every dam day, how do you keep going, how do you keep the sanity?
I think I am losing myself and I think I may have hit that point which I never vowed to hit when I became unemployed- despair. I think I have actually hit "despair". My god I forgot how much I hate the job search, over a week you send out 50 or some applications, maybe 3 get back to you then maybe 2/3 results in a phone interview and maybe 1 out of those 2 phone interviews gets you an in person interview. And then if you don't past that in person interview, then you repeat the whole dam process again, week after bloody week.
I feel like I am losing my bloody mind, I am looking every day, I don't even take Sundays off for fear I might miss a good job. I have come to hate weekends and holidays because it means no one is looking at job applications-I think I am losing myself.
My god there are days where I just feel like I am losing my mind, because if insanity is defined as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results", am I insane then for looking for work? I keep applying for work , hitting up contacts, relatives, linkedin, etc... and the results thus far have been the same-nothing.
So I ask to those who are in the 1 month, 2 month+ of looking for a job or to those who have recently found work, how do you keep sane how do you keep going mentally?
You sound stressed. Is there anything you can do to help yourself relax?
The last time I was on the hunt, I made myself get up by 7:30, dress, eat and start applications by 8:30. I worked hard at job-related tasks from 8:30 - 12:30, took a break, and then hit the pavement from about 1:15 to 3:30 or 4:00. That was back in the days when one actually had to go to places in person to apply.
The point was that I had a quitting time each day. At around 4:00, I stopped, did housework, exercised, and didn't think about my job search or anything related to it. I went to bed at a decent hour and then did it all again, although on weekends, I filled out apps or read ads for several hours.
The economy was a bit better. I think I landed something part-time in about three weeks.
Now, there are more job clubs and such. They frequently meet at the library or local coffee shop. You might try joining or forming on of those if you think it would help.
I never did the group thing well. Daily workouts were much better for managing my stress, but everyone is different.
job hunting is definitely a stressful process. all the rejection can start to feel really personal.
Meemur's suggestion of giving yourself a schedule that includes breaks is a good one.
another thing you can do, and this can be difficult, is not get too invested in any one job. when you apply, do the best application you can, and then let it go. likewise with interviews. don't obsess; once you've done what you need to do, assume you're not getting it until you hear back. then you'll be pleasantly surprised when you do.
i'd also look into whether there is anything you CAN change about your job search. if you're getting multiple interviews you're probably pretty good at this stuff, but there still might be things you can improve or try changing up. do you have any friends who you respect who are hiring managers? could ask them if you could do a mock interview with them and have them critique you?
the best job searching advice i've seen online is from alison green who runs askamanager.com. i'd highly recommend going through her archives (she also has free and paid ebooks) and see if any of her advice might help you. i feel like a shill when i do this (i'm not though, i have no connection to her besides being a fan) but i really credit her for helping me to step up my job searching game.
Just wondering... how do you manage to send out 50 applications a week? How do you even find 50 jobs a week that you are qualified for?
My advice to you would be to stop sending out so many applications, because honestly the rate of response is probably going to be the same as if you sent out far less.
Stop working on Sundays. You should have a fairly normal weekend. If not, that's a sure way to lose your mind. (I don't do any job hunting activities on weekends, save a quick check of any new job listings coming in.
Spend more time thinking about who you are and what you want to do, and how to position yourself for that, and also how to enrich yourself for that.
Monday through Friday, I get up at 7:30, have breakfast, spend an hour focusing and reviewing my to-dos for the day (NOT going on the computer and wasting time). I'll spend a couple hours in late morning doing job hunting. Part of that is not just looking for jobs and applying for them, but also printing out listings for jobs I *want* but where I don't feel quite qualified in terms of experience. If these job listings have any industry terms in them that I don't understand, I make sure to LEARN them. Every one of these job listings contains potential things I need to respond to during the rest of the week. I have four or five different colored folders where I divide stuff up by potential types of jobs I want to pursue. They are filled with printouts of job listings I intend to apply for; listings I don't intend to apply for, but have stuff in them that I need to learn more about; and to-dos based in that subject area. (I keep the stuff in these folders constantly moving, so stale job listings and stuff I'm done with gets thrown out fairly regularly)
By afternoon I am done with active job searching. There just aren't enough jobs in my economically depressed city that are going to work out for me, and I'm not free to move (RIGHT NOW; that strategy could change). The afternoons are spent doing freelance work for my (right now few) clients, managing my budget, doing the to-dos I've planned out for the day (examples: learning the software that I notice many job listings are asking for, studying for upcoming civil service exam, investigating whether this or that certification course is worth paying for, etc).
On Sunday I do mostly marketing related activities for my freelance business, which can be a lot of work in itself. But Saturdays are all for me.
It is depressing after a couple of months. However, it's a marathon, not a sprint. You should *respond* to job listings, not react to them. Responding sometimes means actually applying. It also sometimes means just trying to get whatever information you can out of the job listing, that will better prepare you to be competitive.
Last edited by Jeromeville; 12-12-2015 at 10:41 PM..
Ty for the advice, and yes I am going to implement a schedule i.e... look for work from X to X only and I will stop looking for work on Sundays, I think I need at least one day where it is "okay" not to luck. In terms of getting hyped about a certain job when I get a call back, I try not to but again with the rate of Application to getting a call back so low, it is hard not to get a little excited about getting a call back. I know all to well that it is a long process from phone call to "your hired" but my god it feels gut wrenching when you don't get the job in the end.
i think jeromeville has a point that it's possible that you might get a better rate of response if you are more selective about applying to jobs that are really a good fit for your qualifications, and spend some more time putting together a quality application. i mean i have no way of knowing exactly what you're doing but if you're applying to 50 jobs a week it seems like you can't possibly be spending that much time on each one. you might want to try focusing on quality rather than quantity for a while and see where that gets you.
I honestly just don't even think that number of callbacks correlates to the number of applications a person sends out - after a certain point. Obviously, if you send out zero applications a week you will get zero callbacks. But it certainly does not follow that 50 applications sent out, means twice as many callbacks as 25 sent out.
And it's certainly no good for you if you wear yourself to a frazzle sending out too many applications.
I'm underemployed and I'm trying to find an administrative /customer service role. I just want be chance to prove myself. If there's anyone who's hiring in the NY area, please send me a message.
Been back and forth myself. One thing that keeps me going is the fact that I was able to land something. If I can get that underemployed job, then my luck hasn't run out.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
