Looking for a new role is rarely anyone’s idea of a fun time, and in fact, most people really dislike it.
It’s hard not to see why, as you could spend hours tailoring a resume and writing a cover letter that tries to balance professionalism with personality, only to send it off into the void with no response or limited bite. Sometimes you get a generic rejection email weeks later, but getting no response at all is far more common.
Such silence is a frustration that builds up when you’re earnestly just trying to earn a living, and at worst, could start to chip away at your confidence. You might start wondering if you’re qualified enough or if there’s a glaring mistake in your application that everyone else can see but you, rewriting your CV several times. Of course, we’re told that hard work pays off, so when that effort is met with silence, it feels like a broken promise.
However, taking this personally is the quickest way to burn out and it might not be more accurate. The truth is that the hiring process is rarely a reflection of your true worth or capability if you’re doing all you can, it’s just a messy, complex system run by overworked people or automated software, and competition is rife.
In this post, we’ll discuss how to avoid losing hope.
Look Further Afield Than Usual
If the local market feels completely dead, looking further than your local limits is a little bit intimdaitng, but could be worth it. You may find that, a specific region is just flooded with applicants who all have the same qualifications as you, and standing out there will become something of a lottery. If you expand the search radius, it could changes the numbers in your favor immediately, and you might find that your skills are in high demand in a different territory.
For example, specialists like Origin Legal can help connect qualified candidates with opportunities they hadn’t considered, such as roles in the Cayman Islands or other offshore areas. A change of scenery often brings the career breakthroug you could be looking for.
Structure Your Day Rigidly
Spending every waking hour refreshing email inboxes and scrolling through job boards is probably going to make you feel a touch anxious, so treating the job search like a part-time job with set hours is a healthier approach to take. As such, you could decide to dedicate the hours between nine and twelve to applications and then step away from the computer for the rest of the day.
That way, the tiresome practice of job hunting set at the right times protects your downtime and stops the stress from bleeding into your entire life. Moreover, small, non-career tasks taken care of in the afternoon will give you a sense of progress and control you may have needed most.
Create Your Own Work
Waiting for permission to work is the hardest part of unemployment. If you have time, starting a personal project or learning a new piece of software fills that gap and keeps your brain active and might help you gain better opportunities. If you write, starting a blog is a solid option, or if you code, building a simple app keeps your skills sharp and you can always point to that on a future application. At the very least it can stop you feeling stuck.
With this advice, we hope you can avoid losing hope even as you search for new work.