Manage your well-being during a job search

Staying healthy, organized, and connected will boost your prospects for success.

There are many aspects of a job search to manage, from updating resumes to sending follow-up emails to reconnecting with people in our network. But there’s also another key success factor, and it’s one that often gets overlooked: how we take care of ourselves along the way. Submitting job applications, interviewing, and networking means repeatedly putting ourselves out there. Hearing no—or, worse yet, not hearing back at all—can be hard, especially if it takes a while to find the perfect fit.

Prioritizing your well-being and working to reduce stress while on your job hunt can help improve your prospects for success.

Find a job-hunting partner

Searching for work can be isolating. But it isn’t something you have to do alone.

Augustine recommends partnering up with another person in your industry or with similar job goals. “The chances of you and this other individual having the exact same qualifications and wanting the exact same job is highly unusual,” she says. “By working together, you can double your job-search efforts and find some much-needed solace knowing that someone else is going through the same thing as you.”

You can bounce your résumés off each other, provide suggestions to improve their LinkedIn profile, practice for your interviews together, and more. Rather than emailing or texting back and forth, establish a digital workspace where you can share information.

Choose a positive mindset and stay motivated

“Negative thinking just comes with the territory of losing a job,” says Terrence Seamon, an Executive Career Transition Consultant at The Ayers Group who advises professionals and executives through job searches and career changes. And many people approach their search with the limiting mindset that networking is “begging for a job.”

But, as Seamon says, we have the power to choose our own thoughts and reactions. He advises clients to identify their negative thoughts first and then replace them by using a “positive thought exercise.”

Three positive thought exercises Seamon recommends are:

1. Articulate your purpose in life.
   Ask yourself questions such as: What have people told me I am good at? What do I really enjoy doing? Who benefits from the work I do? When you have a clear sense of purpose, you can make choices, set priorities, and determine the path you want to take that will fulfill your sense of who you are.
2. Write your mission statement.
   Companies have mission statements, and people can, too. Keep it simple. A mission states what you do and who you do it for.
3. Practice telling stories of your accomplishments.
   Since interviewers are likely to ask, it pays to practice articulating your successes. Seamons recommends the P.A.R formula: Problem, Action, Results.

These exercises will not only help you shift your mindset in the moment, they’ll help you prepare for networking conversations and, eventually, job interviews. Instead of feeling like you’re begging for a job, these positive exercises shift attention away from what you’re trying to get to what you have to offer. When the time comes for those conversations and interviews with potential employers, the positive outlook will come across.

So, you’ve now prioritized your well-being, secured a job-search partner, and committed to keeping a positive outlook, but it’s still taking more time than you’d like to find that new job. Staying motivated can be tough—even for confident people, but this course can help.