Recently, I presented to a group of job seekers on the topic of job search burnout.
Things started out well enough, with participants providing their symptoms: hitting the wall, feeling hopeless, doing the same things without success, losing energy ... each person’s answer was descriptive enough to elicit nods from the others.
The conversation turned dicey, however, when one fellow declared that current job search strategies are all “bull.” This isn’t a new situation for me as a presenter, and I’ve written about similar experiences before. But I had to admit, this job seeker was very articulate in making his point.
Unlike some participants in past workshops whose frustration seems focused on the world at large, this man (I’ll call him Bill) took issue with people in my profession. “Everyone says the same thing,” he said heatedly. “Contact the company directly. Network. Don’t wait for a job to be posted. But it’s all bull. It doesn’t work.”
Of course I’m paraphrasing, since I wasn’t writing down his comments. But I was certainly paying attention. Because what Bill was parroting back to me from other job search professionals was essentially the same advice I was about to give the group. And many were nodding in agreement with his comments. Uh-oh. Tough crowd.
It’s probably lucky I was giving this talk in Minnesota, where the cultural reluctance to make a scene overrides almost any impulse for revolt. Eventually I was able to win back most of those in the room -- I think. Still, the level of frustration Bill and others were expressing reminds me that those feelings are likely shared by job seekers elsewhere. With that in mind, I’ll provide here some of my thoughts and remedies for job search burnout.
As a first step, if you think you’re burned out, it’s worth noting your symptoms. Whether you’re dealing with a job search, a bad work situation, or any other seemingly endless situation, you might be experiencing a common pattern of feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, lethargic and generally unenthusiastic about your circumstances. Expressing these feelings in writing or conversation will help you see that they’re valid and need to be dealt with so you can move forward.
When it comes to job search, I have learned that easing burnout involves attention to three areas: isolation, process and timeline.
In terms of isolation, the primary remedy is to connect with others on a frequent schedule. In some cases, a job search buddy or support group will help. Others will find better relief by using a therapist to deal with the emotions they’re experiencing, particularly if there’s a question of depression or anxiety to be managed.
Process refers to the actual steps or strategies for job search, and timeline means the dates one chooses in advance for completing those steps. Surprisingly, an awful lot of job seekers have little or no strategy when it comes to job search. They launch themselves at the market full of hope and energy, but with no plan for success. In their defense, this technique often works in a better market, and it may well have worked for them in the past. But a tight market requires an airtight plan.
The value of process when fighting job search burnout is twofold. First, one could have a reasonable expectation of earlier success, which might keep burnout at bay altogether. But if not, another value of having a process is the sense of control it elicits. And it’s not a false sense, mind you, but actual control based on predetermined decisions about how a job search will be conducted.
As an example, Bill was relating the outline of a very useful strategy, where one decides what job to seek, then identifies the companies that might use those workers, then contacts the department managers directly or through networking to see if they need a employee. This is how you find unadvertised openings, and it’s been working for decades.
But this isn’t the entire formula. One needs predetermined quotas for their daily contacts and the determination to make them, no matter what. Then one needs a predetermined date on the calendar at which to evaluate the results of the search -- and to move on to Plan B if needed. To do otherwise would be to repeat the same steps without success for months on end -- a sure way to invite burnout while also relinquishing control.
I can’t promise that this will eliminate burnout, but I do know that attention to the issues of isolation, process and timeline is never wasted, whether the job seeker is burned out or not.
Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 626 Armstrong Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.
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