Celebrate Small Victories in Your Job Search

Any journey should be punctuated by moments when you pause, take stock to look at how far you have come and celebrate small victories. Then you can press on with renewed vigour. I walked up the (small) Welsh mountain Snowdon with my two kids in the last half-term holidays. Regular breaks to take in the view and scoff some chocolate were essential.

We would set ourselves targets to reach along the route, not stopping to rest until we had reached them. First, the hiker’s pub, then the railway track, then the café halfway up, etc. Until we eventually got to the top. Breaking up the trek in this way was easier to envisage, and we could pause to celebrate our latest leg of the climb.

After each little celebration, we all had a little extra energy. Maybe it was the chocolate, but I felt that we only got to the 1085m to the top because of these regular pats on the back and high fives.

I’d say that most job searches are significantly more challenging than climbing a glorified hill. Still, it is surprising how often people take the plunge without a strategy and without stopping for a breath until they have found a role. This is a recipe for utter exhaustion.

Celebrate small victories regularly

There is a lot to be said for deciding what the small successes look like before you start and how you will celebrate them. Every application form you fill in equates to reading three chapters of your book. Every recruiter you talk to means taking a walk in the fresh air for ten minutes. Each time you tailor your CV or write a bespoke cover letter, you could play a game with your kids (if you have kids). Every time you are invited to interview, you might allow yourself to relax in front of a film that evening. Every time you get a second interview, you could buy something nice.

We are that little bit more motivated to hit our targets if we have promised ourselves a reward at the end of it. After the pause and the celebration, we tell ourselves that hitting that target wasn’t such a big deal after all. We get on with things with a spring in our step.

Ploughing through life without any reflection or celebration is a thankless existence. Slogging up Snowdon without any breaks or any laughs would have been miserable. When looking for a job, you need all the energy you can muster. You owe it to yourself to make the most of every small victory.

I wrote yesterday about whether we should discuss the search with our partners. Some sort of celebratory external dialogue is important as it is nice to share our successes with others, but the main aim of these intermittent moments is to reinforce to ourselves that we are on the right road.

Saying well done to ourselves gives us the energy to carry on.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

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