Is There Still Time For Me to Enroll For Next Semester?
"The secret of achievement is not to let what you're going to do get to you before you get to it." -Anonymous
If you are sick of looking for a job and you feel you'll be forever doomed to trudging around a strange city with a stack full of unwanted resumes, you are in the right chapter. Sooner or later, everyone gets discouraged, but if you can keep a few important thoughts in mind, you can get past your job hunting burnout and forge ahead with your search.
In this chapter, we'll look at some practical, concrete tips for avoiding burnout as outlined by the experts. And we'll draw up an overall job hunting game plan so you can document your successes and keep yourself organized.
Do Something Every Day
First, above all else, there is one major way to successfully fight off those horrible job hunting blues: accomplish at least one thing related to your job hunt every day of the work week.
"Don't leave any stone unturned," advises Terri Goslin-Jones of Perpetual Bank. "Take some kind of action every day." For example, keep up with the classified ads. When you get tired of job hunting, that's probably the first thing you let slide. Unfortunately, that's probably the best and most readily available resource.
If the classifieds aren't yielding a lot of opportunities, however, make it your goal for the day or for the week to find another source of job openings. Talk to a librarian about new avenues you could pursue. Look in the phone book for professional associations which might have a job bank.
If you'll stay busy in your job hunt, you'll stay committed, interested and ready to work. If you sit around and don't do anything to help yourself find a job, you'll soon lose your enthusiasm and your motivation. You'll then be trapped in the vicious circle of becoming discouraged because you don't have a job and becoming incapable of looking because you feel so discouraged. If you feel like you've done everything to find a job that you could possibly do, you're moving in the right direction.
However, as much as you hate to hear this now, there is always something new that you could be doing in order to find a good job. And it could be that little extra step that helps you find the job of your dreams. All it takes is one letter which makes it to the right person or one meeting with an employer who is looking for someone like you.
If you're suffering from job hunting burnout, you might not be able to think of any way to move your job search one more step forward. Why not develop a new mailing list of potential employers to which you can send your resume? Or begin calling employers to whom you sent your resume three weeks ago?
If you take all of these steps and you still have extra time on your hands, consider volunteering to work a few hours a week in a company similar to those in which you're interested. All of this activity will keep you from feeling that your job search, as well as your life, isn't going anywhere. Use these ideas as a springboard for getting yourself out of your job hunting rut. Maybe these suggestions don't apply to your job search, but there must be some kind of specific activity that does.
The more actively you pursue your job hunt, the richer the final results will be. Simply from a statistical viewpoint, the greater the number of resumes you send out, the greater your possibilities for uncovering the perfect job. And by doing one new thing every single day, you can increase your chances of making a great networking contact...or learning more about a certain aspect of your career field...or thinking of a way to improve your resume.
''Yes, I'm Still Alive"
You also shouldn't underestimate the value of interacting with friends and potential employers when you start to feel discouraged. Meet a friend for lunch and ask him if he has heard of any new jobs, either at his company or elsewhere. If he's on good terms with his boss and he works in the field in which you'd like to work, ask if he'd give his boss a copy of your resume to circulate to colleagues.
"Don't get discouraged if at first you fail in your job search," says General Motors' James Sturtz. "Pursue your interests and make yourself known."
If you make an effort to keep in touch with people throughout your job hunt, you'll be a lot more aware of different opportunities that might come up. You'll also keep yourself interested in the job hunt and fired up for another round of interviews.
Recognize Your Achievements
Second, employers and psychologists recommend that you don't focus on the things that haven't gone your way. Instead, focus on what's gone right for you and what you've gained in a week or two weeks or a month.
"People focus on the negatives and the rejections, but they should keep a list and look at what they've done everyday," says Goslin-Jones. "It can help them keep track of their progress." Since you haven't found a job, you might feel like you haven't accomplished anything. However, if you've been looking diligently, you've probably accomplished a lot. You've developed your resume and you've written your cover letter. You've decided what kind of job you want, and you've talked to people in the field about what's available. Considering that you were still in school a few short months ago, you've done a lot to further your career goals.
''You Mean You Weren't Born Into Your Job?"
Third, remember that you're not alone. Every single person who has a job today was once in your shoes. Because job hunting is an on-going process which requires a lot of soul searching, everyone gets burned out and discouraged with their job hunt at one point or another.
"I think it helps when job hunters remember that it's something everyone goes through," comments Dr. Diane Goebes. "It's a rite of passage and it gets easier over time." What will separate you from the other job hunters out there is your ability to bounce back and to throw yourself into your search with renewed energy.
“Have Been Looking For A Job For Roughly Three Years Now''
Finally, keep your perspective. This is only one part of your life, although it may seem like everything right now. And you've probably only been looking for a few weeks or a few months. In the long run, that's not that much time.
It can take a while to find the best opportunity for you, and you shouldn't feel like everyone else fell into their job quickly or easily. If you keep looking for a job, and you do it regularly and enthusiastically, you'll find the organization that's right for you.
"One general time frame to use in finding a job is six months," says Sturtz. "Everyone will have a unique circumstance, but we find that to be fairly typical."
Job hunting can be difficult, slow-moving and discouraging, but ultimately, it's one of the most exciting, challenging and rewarding ways to discover what it is that you want to do with the rest of your life.
So, good luck and happy job hunting! For details on how to organize your job hunt and chart your success, use the checklist below.
Getting To Your Job Hunt Before It Gets To You
Developing Your Home Office For Job Hunting
- Explore all of your options for photocopying or printing your resume and cover letters. Purchase any office supplies you'll need. Buy a telephone answering machine if you don't have one.
- Developing Your Resume
- Maintain an adequate supply of resumes for sending to employers with your cover letter and for taking to interviews.
- Keep up with all professors, former employers, family friends, etc. who said they would serve as references. Update each person on your job hunting status; tell them when they'll be receiving calls.
- Developing Your Cover Letter
- Determine the status of each cover letter you've sent out. Is it pending? Has it been rejected? Did the recipient of your cover letter direct you to someone else, either within her company or at another company? If so, did you follow up with a thank you note?
Make a list of three things you'll do regarding your cover letter (e.g. develop a new cover letter to send to large accounting firms, call 20 potential employers to whom you've already sent your cover letter, organize your files so you'll know what you have yet to do).
Finding Potential Employers
- Stay one step ahead of your job hunt by sending out a new mass mailing every three to four weeks. Do the appropriate library research; call and confirm the addresses and company names of each mailing recipient.
- Make a list of three things you'll do to find potential employers (e.g. go through the phone book for company names, call alumni from your school to ask for prospects, join a networking or even a social group in order to broaden your web of contacts),
- Contact and meet with at least one new person a week. Obtain the names of possible contacts from a friend, from another networking contact or from the follow-up calls you place after you send a mass mailing. Have one or two concrete objectives when you meet with your contacts, such as finding the name of another person or getting some feedback on your resume.
Interviewing
- Practice your interview skills with a friend. Go through the list of interview questions; add on any new questions you've heard in the course of your interviews. Make a list of three things you need to do for upcoming interviews or for interviews you've already had (e.g. researching a company if it is a large one, determining your follow-up, writing thank-you notes).
- Rate all of the jobs for which you've interviewed using a system which works best for you. Make a list of three things you will do to further your decision-making process (e.g. develop a system for rating each job, look over your notes from previous interviews, decide what will make you happy in a work situation).
- Make a list of additional thoughts you may have on your job hunt (e.g. perceptions of employers, goals for next week, things you really want in a job, reminders to buy office supplies).
