How to Maintain Motivation & Hope Throughout the Job Search

A job search can become a steady march of rejection. Even top candidates spend most of their time chasing opportunities that don’t pan out. After all, when you receive the perfect job offer, you end your search.

Under these conditions, it’s often hard to stay motivated as you quest for your perfect job. Enthusiasm, and even hope, can wane over time. One study showed that more than half of job seekers (56%) experienced emotional or mental strain during their time of unemployment. Meanwhile, it could take months of aggressive searching before you find the ideal situation.

You can ease this strain with a strong recruiting partner. A top staffing agency, like SmartTalent, can reduce the time it takes to land a job while giving you additional support during your search. Connect with SmartTalent to maximize your job search.

Beyond this strategy, there are other steps you can take to remain motivated, even in the face of repeated rejections. Here are some tips you can use to nurture hope throughout your job search:

Minimize Negative Thinking

Protect your motivation by eliminating the negative thoughts that are holding you back. Yes, you need to constantly review your job-search process with an eye toward constructive improvement. But this doesn’t mean you should beat yourself up.

A job search can become stressful. You can find yourself spiraling into anxiety and depression. If you sense this happening, look for techniques that can help minimize these feelings and concentrate on moving forward.

Talk to Your Support System

How can you minimize negative thoughts and keep an upbeat attitude? Start by finding support from your friends and family. Talk to those around you about your job-search troubles. You’ll likely get the encouragement and advice you need to reinvigorate your motivation.

Reach Out to Your Network

Broaden your communication attempts beyond your loved ones. Also, connect with your wider personal and professional network. Here, you’re not so much looking for emotional support (although you’ll likely get some of that as well). Rather, these conversations can have a more practical effect, pushing your job search forward and giving you the kind of progress you need to add fire to your enthusiasm.

SmartTalent can play into this process as well. You’ll get additional guidance and support as you drive your job search forward. Reach out to SmartTalent to jumpstart your job search.

Set Mini-Goals

Large-scale objectives can become daunting. It’s hard to feel progress toward those goals, which can lead to feelings of discouragement. Combat this impact by breaking your job search into mini-goals, aims that are more easily achieved.

Think of targets like:

• Updating your resume
• Applying to a certain number of jobs per day
• Contacting a certain number of people in your network in a given time
• Investing a certain number of hours per day to prospecting new opportunities

Create a Routine

Don’t let a few setbacks make you lose heart. Instead, focus more on the process than the results. Create a job-search routine and stick to it even if you face a few disappointments.

Keep Up Your Hobbies

A job search can take over your consciousness. Yes, this focused effort can help push you closer to your dream job. However, at a certain point, the anxiety involved becomes counterproductive. It can raise the risk of burnout, which could eventually undermine your efforts.

Avoid this by finding stress-relieving activities. Make time for the fun stuff. Ultimately, this will buoy your spirits and keep your mind sharp for your job search.

Focus on Your Progress

Even if you haven’t found your dream job yet, you’ve likely made significant progress in that direction. Focus on these wins. Count the number of interviews you’ve landed, the improvement you’ve made in your process, the insights you’ve learned, and the other upgrades you’ve made since you launched your job search. Looking at how far you’ve come can give you the energy to push even further.

Find New Ways to Find Jobs

If you’ve hit a frustrating patch in your job search, it might be time to open up your process. By adding new tools, you gain a fresh perspective and give yourself a new focus. This will foster increased motivation for your general search.

SmartTalent can represent a major help in this regard. By connecting with a top recruiter, you’ll open up the possibilities for your job search, raising the chances you’ll find a great opportunity in the near term.

Contact SmartTalent today to find out how to drive your job search forward.