How to Stay Positive Whilst Job Hunting
Job hunting causes a lot of personal troubles, mostly emotional ones. Even the brightest ones get rejected. Even the guy voted most likely to succeed in life back in high school gets ignored. It’s so easy to fall into a dark pit of angst and self-pity after how many “we’ll call you” messages and resumes that went straight into the shredder. Your friends will try to comfort you with “there’s always a rainbow after the rain” or “it’s their loss, not yours.” You know they mean well but their words feel like backhanded slaps of patronizing mockery. The truth is that nobody else can help you but yourself. You are solely responsible for how you deal with rejection and disappointments. How, you ask? Here is a list of things you should do to stay positive whilst job hunting:
1. Take well-deserved breaks.
Ten consecutive rejections are enough to kill anybody’s spirit. Do not be too hard on yourself and
Take well-deserved breaks. Go someplace quiet on your own and just unwind. Think about your goals and your dreams: this will help you stay motivated.
2. Get a dream board
Dedicate one wall in your room (preferably the one you usually face when you wake up) to put up a dream board. The goal is to never let yourself forget about your goals. Print out pictures of your dream car, dream house, dream travels, etc. Put them all in one collage somewhere you wouldn’t miss looking at for a few times everyday.
3. Stay away from negative people
Insecure people feed off other people’s negativity. They can bring your spirits down by simply walking in the same room. Their goal is to make you feel bad about your life so they can feel good about theirs. Once you sense that a person is making you pity yourself in whatever way, stay away from that person at once. Remember that while it’s hard for someone else to motivate you, it takes just a few words from the same person to demotivate you.
4. Do not be part of support groups
Support groups aim to bring people who share the same difficulties together. In your case, you will be talking to people like you who are yet to find a job. You are to share your sentiments and your disappointments in the hope that getting it out of your system will help lighten you up. This may seem like a good idea at first, but when these people are able to find jobs before you do, you’ll just feel worse. You’d feel betrayed. So again, do not rely on other people like you to support you or make you feel good.
5. Get a career coach.
I know you probably didn’t expect this tip right after I told you not to trust other people for your motivation. Well, I should have emphasized that you should not rely on people you personally know, or on people who are in between jobs like you. A career coach is not included in the list of people who can’t help you. As a matter of fact, it is highly recommended that you get one to keep your job search in track. Career therapists are formally trained individuals. They know what to say in different situations without making you feel worse. You also wouldn’t view your therapist as competition, so he can’t bring you down. Talk to your therapist about your feelings and he would tell you how to deal with them.