Job Search? Free Your Mind and the Job Will Follow

Job search frustration? If you have spent more than six months pumping up your job search activities with only a pile of rejection letters to show for your valiant effort, it is time for you to free your mind and let the job follow.

By Catherine Adenle

Job seekers of all ages and backgrounds everywhere are usually faced with anxiety when it comes to finding the right job or their next position. During a job search, it is normal to feel anxious about finding a new job, and the good thing is that you’re not alone.

According to the Office of National Statistics, from April to June 2013, about 2.51 million people in the UK were out of work and seeking work. In the US, the number of unemployed persons was 11.5 million in June according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. This means over 14.01 million people in the UK and US are just as anxious about their job search and landing a new job as you are. The good news though is that the number of the unemployed is shrinking daily.

Job Search could be lonely and unpredictable

It’s a fact, that when it comes to looking for a new job, the process is a lonely, unpredictable process with no guarantees, rules, supervision and a huge amount at stake for you, the job seeker. These days, getting a job is tough because the job market competition is fierce. With job competition on the rise, managing job search stress is essential to getting hired.

It is difficult to remain optimistic while you battle with the fear of rejection and the feeling of hopelessness. Frankly, it is frustrating to send out countless job applications for weeks and months while rejection letters pile up only to still remain unemployed after six months. In most cases, even the most ambitious job seekers can spend close to six months or more before they land a job.

While it’s important to stay positive, there will inevitably come times in your search when you feel discouraged, dejected and drained of energy to send out even one more application. If you know that you’ve already pumped up on your job search for months, it is important to take a break, especially for your mental health. Sometimes you just need to step back and clear your head. So, engaging in some activity other than job search can energize you and offer a new perspective.

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“Looking for a job is an unfolding task that is highly autonomous, self-organized, loosely structured, and ill-defined. Individuals must decide on their own how and how often to search, and they rarely receive feedback about the effectiveness of the job-search activities and the strategies they are using.” – Professor Connie Wanberg

Stay in control

Stop beating yourself up over what you can’t control, instead take control of what is within your control. Learn to relax and reward yourself for putting a courageous effort and time towards the process of searching for a job. Now is the time for you to transform any negativity into positivity.

There are a number of ways for you to take control and free your mind and allow the job to follow.

“Life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish it.” – Proverb

How to minimise anxiety during your job search

You can minimize the anxiety and the disappointment associated with your job search by:

• Volunteering to help the needy, any charity of your choice or the elderly
• Building your brand online by using free Social Media tools
• Take some time out to live, chill out and explore
• Freelancing
• Networking everywhere
• Checking online for free fun events to attend in your city
• Getting two great mentors
• Starting a blog on anything you are passionate about
• Exercising and meditating
• Catching up with positive friends
• Gardening
• Taking up courses that will make your skills more attractive to potential employers
• Taking advantage of any free webinars online
• Reading success stories of people who succeeded by not giving up
• Watching your favourite TV shows and starting a discussion forum on it
• Organising garage sales for other people and selling off any of their unused items for a cut of the money generated
• Face timing your friends to catch up on chats
• Taking up a part-time job
• Taking up dancing lessons
• Spending more time on your hobby and see if it can generate income
• Taking up photography and sell your pictures online
• Working on an idea you parked aside while you were employed
• Joining a group

As Helen Keller once said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”

See Keeping Upbeat on the Job Search When You are Down in the Dumps

Take the necessary steps to find a happy medium for you. Set your own times and do your own thing. Once you feel relaxed enough, start your job search again while you also do other things that you enjoy.

Once you are ready to rev up your job search again, explore these articles to keep you going:

Four Steps to Getting that Job

Smash the Interview

Be a Superstar Job Seeker

11 Steps to Ace any Job Interview

Your Cover Letter is Your Sales Rep

Are You a Job Seeker? 6 Tips to Getting Hired

Unemployment is a big change, so it is the best time to re-evaluate everything in your life to this point and make other changes for the better. If there are other big changes you want to make in life, now is the time to look at them in a practical way because, for this brief time, you do not have other commitments and can give the new direction your best efforts. If that doesn’t work out, it’s just a failed trial. Keep trying and you will build a new life that’s better than your old one.

So, how else can one manage anxious thoughts during a job search?