Finding that Job Search Tough?

Telling you that it’s “tough out there” is a bit like saying the sun’s hot or that the rain is wet — it’s self-evident, particularly if you’ve been hunting for a job and are tired of the endless rounds of leads and interviews that never seem to go anywhere.

Like Elmer Fudd tracking Bugs Bunny or Wile E. Coyote chasing down that sneaky Road Runner, always being the pursuer and never getting your mitts on the prize is pretty exhausting. How do you keep going in the face of constant rejection?

Here are a handful of ways to keep yourself together during even the cruelest job hunt.

It’s Only Personal When You Make it Personal

Get told “no” enough times, and it’s only natural to start thinking that something’s wrong with you. You wonder what others have that you don’t. You wonder what you’re lacking that others aren’t. You wonder what you need to fix that others don’t. In other words, you make it personal.

There are all kinds of reasons you might not get a job. Maybe someone else ticked more boxes than you. Maybe the position was filled by an internal candidate. Maybe your interviewer had an off day, which tainted his or her opinion of you during the interview.

After experiencing rejection, it’s tempting to answer the question “why?” by blaming yourself. But that only serves to diminish your self-confidence and make you second-guess your next move. That kind of judgment ignores the fact that, as humans, we’re all works in progress with all kinds of strengths and weaknesses, and we’re all continually developing and learning. Long may that continue.

Hearing “no” isn’t a judgment about who you are. It’s just something that happens. What really matters and what shapes your experience is how you respond when it happens.

It’s a Process

You don’t get to the end of your street without leaving your front door first. You don’t write a novel without first writing “chapter one” at the top of a blank page. And you don’t land a new job without going through the process of landing a new job.

That might mean getting a hundred rejections, or it might mean getting three. You may need you to widen your search or get creative about how to sell yourself. You may need to take advantage of your network or even take a leap of faith and apply for something completely out of the box.

The point is, you’ll never get to 100% without going all the way from zero to 99% first. Know that searching for a job is a process, and commit to taking meaningful steps to guide you through that process.