Staying positive while job-hunting
Job searching over an extended period can be a demoralising process. In fact, unless you’re extremely lucky, you’ll have to deal with many rejections before achieving your goal. After a while, searching and applying for jobs can take up a lot of your time; it’s important not to let it take over your whole life.
You’ll find lots of useful advice on job searching at the Careers Service. You can also contact our own Counselling Service.
These tips are designed to help you maintain your confidence and wellbeing:
- Engage in activities which could enhance your skills and value as a job applicant. Being able to use your people skills, organising ability or leadership talents can prove valuable for your resume.
- Try not to ruminate on the difficulty in finding a job, as this has been shown to increase risk of depression. Keep busy and distract yourself from negative thinking.
- Find activities that give your life meaning, where you feel useful or competent; for example, community service work or personal projects you’d never previously had the time to do.
- Physical exercise has scientifically proven health benefits. It is great for stress reduction and for lifting your mood.
- Keep socially active. People often withdraw when they feel down but this tends to make matters worse.
- If you are feeling stressed you might like to join one of the many meditation or yoga classes offered in the community. Meditation resources can also be found on the internet, e.g., SmilingMind.
- Keep an eye on your alcohol consumption. Heavy use can make it harder to feel motivated and can lead to lower moods the following day.
