Stay Positive and motivated during the job search by:
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Coming up with job search goals
Treat your job search as a project with tangible goals. Figure out how many hours per week you will be focusing on the job search and assign the hours to specific tasks with related goals. For example, 10 hours will be spent networking with the goal of connecting with five people per week. Having weekly tasks and goals keeps you focused.
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Not getting lazy
Just because you don’t have a job to go to doesn’t mean you should lounge around. Aim to make things happen! Treat job searching like your full-time job. Before getting the day started, freshen yourself up as you would for work and stick to a routine for job searching. You may start the day with checking email, making phone calls, then applying to jobs by lunch and leaving the afternoon to networking with others and researching for other job opportunities. When you stick to a schedule, you work more efficiently and there’s less of a chance for you to get lazy.
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Re-examining your resume and LinkedIn profile
If you haven’t updated your resume in a while or it’s not bringing in results you want, it’s time to re-examine it. Same goes with your LinkedIn profile. When you do, you build stronger tools to work with in your job search and you will feel a greater sense of confidence.
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Networking with others
Job networking has a greater effectiveness rate at helping you find a job than other methods like the job boards and recruiters. It can also help you stay motivated. When you talk to others in the field asking for advice, it can feel like you’re getting closer to where you want to be because you have connections with insiders. Often, your job network can also share with you similar challenges they may have faced and offer insight to how they went about the situation, which in turn helps you reflect and react appropriately.
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Doing something on the side while unemployed.
When the job search begins to feel like it’s dragging on, look to do something on the side that may help you maintain your skills or help you build new skills that will be helpful on the next job. Whether it’s volunteering a few hours a week, taking on temporary work, or taking a class, it can help give you a lift or inspiration to stay motivated. It also gives you something to add to the resume so it doesn’t look like you did diddly-squat while unemployed. Finding a new job takes hard work, and finding a new job that you love will take extra patience. Utilize these tips to help keep you going. Soon before you know it, the right job offer will come through!
