Dealing with the Drip-Drip of Job Search Pressure

When you are looking for a job, many of the events that happen around you have the potential to add to the weight on your shoulders. Job search pressure can become unbearable if you do not do something about it.

Your wife might (well-meaningly) ask about your plans for the day whilst you are having breakfast together. You could be hoping to receive an interview request that you fear might never come. You hesitate to complete an application because you are starting to doubt whether you would be a good fit for any role, let alone this one. The to-do list that looks remarkably similar to yesterday’s list….

With every passing day, little drip-drip moments of stress drop onto your increasingly sagging shoulders, and you start to feel the pressure. This is entirely normal, but if you do not do something to relieve your burden, it will have a detrimental effect, and your normal behaviour may start to be compromised.

When you need to be “in control” in your job search, you can’t risk these drip-drip moments of pressure destabilising your natural equilibrium.

You have to release the job search pressure somehow.

People deal with stress and pressure in many different ways, but I am a big believer in the power of action. It might sound a little “cosmic,” but focusing on taking positive action in the rough direction of travel may not directly reduce your stressors. Still, it will psychologically make them feel that little bit more bearable. Good things generally happen when you take action in the hope of a positive conclusion. They might not be precisely the outcomes you were hoping for, but they will move you in the right direction.

When life is drip-dripping its challenges your way, every action will make a difference. When worries come your way, the worst thing that you can do is let them sit there and rot.

In any job search, there is always plenty of action that you can take, even if you are not confident whether it will move you to where you would like to be immediately.

Everyone is different, so I am not one to give a comprehensive list of tips. However, here is what I have done in the past:

Job search pressure release:

…. Read a book.

…. Attend to a conference.

…. Connect with people on social.

…. Write a job search diary.

…. Rewrite a cover letter from the perspective of your boss.

…. See how you can add value to your recruiters.

…. Ask a potential boss out for coffee.

…. Write a blog about what moves you.

…. Go for a run up a big hill.

…. Write a list of everything that you love doing at work.

…. Talk about your concerns with your partner.

…. Apply for a few roles you don’t think you have a chance of getting.

Or maybe just slowly drink a coffee and tell yourself everything will be okay.

That is affirmative action too.

Just don’t sit there and let the drip-drip of worries overwhelm you.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).