How to Stay Positive While Looking for a Job

I thought I’d share something a bit different for those of us who are looking for a job.  It can be tough, after all! 

When doing so, you might apply to a lot of positions but not get as many interviews as you'd like.  Often you don't even get a response, let alone a rejection.  It can get depressing.

Here are some ideas for staying positive and productive.

Have a routine

If you're at home and looking for a job, design a routine that you can stick to.  For instance, you might decide to get to work looking for a position at 9am, go until 12, take a lunch break until 1, and then keep at for a few more hours.

Having a routine that you can stick to and that guides your day can keep you productive and focused, reducing the mental pressure you feel.

There's a common saying, after all, that looking for a job is a job itself. 

During job search hours it's a good idea to shut off Facebook and other distractions.  On the other hand, you might also want to force yourself to relax and take it easy during the off hours.

Give yourself goals

Set goals to meet like, "Apply for 2 positions a day (even if I'm not perfectly qualified)" or "Find two people a day in my industry and send them a friendly, introductory email."

Having goals can lower the frustration of not getting immediate results.  That's because you know you are making progress and achieving something.  Goals can also help keep you on task and productive.

Don't just apply online

There are a variety of ways to look for a job. 

One very popular way is to use websites like Indeed to search for openings and apply.  It's easy to do.  That said, it may not always be the most effective way as a large amount of people apply for those positions.

A good idea is to also try building contacts and using your network.  A great method I recommend is to find people in your industry who might be able to help out.  Reach out then try to set up an informational interview (here is a New York Times article on what that is) where you casually meet and ask questions about their work experience. 

If you went to college, you likely have a database of alumni which you can use. 

You can also try finding people in your field who have blogs.  You can then comment on their posts or send an email with a question about something they wrote. 

Establishing an initial connection is usually not too hard and you can then meet in person.

Work on improving your skills

You can also spend some time on improving your skills.  You might have worked with a tool or product but not know it well enough to put on your resume.  Now you can learn it a bit better so you can.

Or you can find out what skills are marketable in your field and learn the easier ones (here is a list of skills like that).  If you want to go into many business analyst positions, for instance, learning the database language SQL isn't too hard and can really improve a resume.

Make sure to socialize

Looking for a position can be isolating.  During the job hunt is a good time to reach out to friends and catch up (getting coffee is a low cost idea).

Not only can it relieve stress, it can also sometimes lead to a friend referring you to someone who might be able to help find a position.

You can also go and meet new people.

Meetup and Eventbrite are two sites which make it easy to find meetings and events to go to.  Using Meetup, for instance, I recently found a talk on data mining methods used in biology which seemed quite interesting (since I'm into biotech).

These types of meetings can be fun and you might meet interesting people.

Give yourself rewards

If you're putting in a lot of effort, every now and then reward yourself!  If you spent a week or two on top of your job search game, that can deserve doing something nice.  Even if things don't work out immediately, you're trying hard.

In short

Looking for a job isn't usually fun.  It can be time consuming and get you down.  It's important to be prepared for this possibility so that you can take action to stay positive and focused on getting a good new position.