Job searching is an emotional rollercoaster. We’re up (filled with excitement over the new opportunity), then we’re down (crushed over yet another rejection). We could create a comical YouTube video of all the reactions we have to the emotions of the job hunt.
Excitement: A new opportunity! This is perfect for me.
Hope: I can see myself at this new company, and part of this great new team. Everything will be so much better!
Rejection: Why not me?
Loss: I lost out on a great opportunity.
Frustration: Why can’t I find anything? I’m putting in all this work.
Fear: Should I send this next resume in? What if I get rejected again?
It’s frustrating to sit and wait for someone to change your life with a single “yes.” Thankfully, we have a few tips for helping you manage the emotional rollercoaster that comes from the job search.
Distract Yourself from The Waiting Game
Waiting for an answer is agonizing. You’ve pictured your great new life in your new office, working with your new team. All you want is to see that call come through or the job offer to pop up in your email. But it still hasn’t. WHAT ARE THEY WAITING FOR? Take a breath; Don’t drive yourself crazy. Schedule time with your friends or distract yourself with another application for another position, to keep yourself busy and your options open. Follow-up is great, but you’ll want to do it strategically and politely. In the meantime, distract yourself until you can appropriately follow up.
Get Help in Dealing with Rejection
If we thought the waiting game was rough, the rejection is even harder to take. At least while we’re waiting, we can hope. When the gauntlet of “no” comes down, it can be heartbreaking. Take some time to be sad and grieve the loss of the opportunity, then move on to the next one. First, you’ll have to accept that you may never know why. Hiring managers have a lot of reasons for passing on a candidate, and often those candidates never find out why. Second, don’t let this “no” be the end-all. You’ll get several “nos” before that one “yes.” And one yes is all you need.
Take Some Time to Process
Rejection of any kind is difficult and hurtful. Let yourself be sad and take that time to process the news. Also, get some perspective and talk to your loved ones. Reach out to friends, family, and peers for support, emotional or otherwise. This includes reaching out to our pdxMindShare LinkedIn Group as well. There’s so much support out there for you! It helps to remind yourself, or have others remind you, that there may be another, better opportunity for you that will better utilize and nurture your strengths. When you’re hurt, it’s hard to see that. It helps to have a voice outside your own mind to remind you that there’s more than the one opportunity out there.
Visualize the “End Game”
Don’t lose sight of why you’re searching for a new job, what a new opportunity means to you. When you’re job searching, you’re not only looking for your next position and its paycheck, you’re also looking for a change. If you’re unhappy in your current position, a new job can mean a new life and a new attitude. Don’t lose sight of that. Remember what you’re working toward as you look for your next job: your career goals, a better living situation, independence, etc.
Assess What’s Working and What’s Not
Another way to manage your emotions is to start taking back some control over the situation. You can’t control whether or not the hiring manager will like you over the competition, but you can control your job search strategy so that you can’t stand out above the competition. Start refining your job search strategy. Assess what is working, what has gotten you the interviews and what has gotten you offers in the past. Then, assess what isn’t working, which applications have gotten no responses and which interviews received no offers of employment or second interviews afterward. Sometimes, feeling like you’re getting some control can level out your ranging emotions and help you realize you’re getting one step closer to your goal.
We wish you a more fruitful job search moving forward. This is a tough year for job seekers, but companies are still hiring. We know you’ll get your dream job soon, with a little perseverance! For more job search and mental health tips related to your job search, follow our blog and catch new episodes of our podcast.
