What Keeps a Job Seeker Awake at Night?

It’s been a long day, the interview didn’t go as planned, and you are trying to get off to sleep. Random thoughts keep flitting into your head, keeping you, your brain trying to digest the day’s events. Lying in bed, even in the embrace of a partner, you just can’t switch off. The slightest worry keeps a job seeker awake….

It’s like a slow drip-dripping torture of all your doubts and worries, taking advantage of you when you are at your weakest. However, you can do something about it. 

You can, and you should. Before you go to bed, you should think about the following responses to your nagging doubts. You might feel a bit better.

It is a tough market. I’ll never find a job. You’re not alone. There are countless people out there, just like you, trying to get off to sleep after another failed interview. What will set you apart is how you react to the disappointment. If you learn more from failures than your peers, you are more likely to secure that role. When margins are fine, every lesson counts.

It’s all about luck – right place, right time. The moment that you get fatalistic is the first step to giving up. You are only “lucky” if you put yourself in the position for luck to find you, which involves a lot of thought and preparation. Tell your sleepy self that tomorrow you will do something slightly differently, and it is that, not luck, which will lead to eventual success.

Keeping job seekers awake….

I’m not as amazing as I thought. Don’t take it personally! It is easy to focus on your imperfections when you have been knocked back – focus on your strengths and move on. The decision not to hire you was based on the company’s specific criteria and needs which may or may not have anything to do with how you performed at the interview.

I used to breeze through interviews. Don’t wallow in the past. It is so easy to allow your past failures (or successes) to overwhelm your present, and suddenly, it seems that the situation is far worse than it is in reality. Your unconscious kicks in, and you are on the “rollercoaster” of self-doubt with no brake mechanism. Focus on what you can do to improve the present.

I’m letting everyone down. What’s wrong with me? You’re not at all. You’ll get there.

The key is to have a chat with that nagging voice in your head that keeps a job seeker awake. Overwhelm it firstly with reason and then with the power of positive dreams. However, don’t jump into that conversation too fast. Take a few minutes to focus purely on your breathing, giving your brain a chance to relax. Then, use that pre-slumber state to imagine what it might be like to walk into a new shiny office, meet your expectant team for the first time, or even just how the coffee there might taste. That thought of coffee works with me every time….

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

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