The end of 2021 is drawing near. On the horizon is that all-too-familiar decline of the momentum you’ve mustered up in your days, weeks, or even months-long quest for finding that dream job…
… or dare I say it, any job at all.
But it doesn’t always have to be that way. That job search slump we all seemingly inevitably go through can be kicked to the curb. You just need to learn the right foot-placement technique and know how to drive the momentum behind your swing – proverbially speaking, that is.
Don’t bait the monster
Still, we must account for the reality that it is tempting to slow down and take a (deserved?) breather. Running a marathon that never ends, after all, is not the answer either. So, this begs the question: how do we balance taking action for the sake of our career with averting the sticky descent into the psychological underworld of burnout?
Let’s explore that, shall we?
It’s OK to slow down, but stopping will hurt your momentum
Self-explanatory, really. If you feel the urge to ‘pause,’ i.e., to step away from the job hunt for a few days and indulge in New Year’s activities, you’re going to find it much harder to go back. In fact, it might even take you a long while before you can so much as restart the search itself. Trust me, it’s a much easier life when you simply cut back the time you spend searching rather than worrying about it while you’re on your break.
If you’re going to go back to it anyway, might as well be done with it sooner, right?
For all that though, there’s no doubt that an unbridled job search can very quickly lead to a miserable, anxiety-ridden life. We’ve all been there. I’m not going to sugarcoat it and act as if it’s peachy because most of the time it is not. To say otherwise would be me being removed from reality and would be extremely unfair to anyone who knows what I’m talking about.
A caveat follows
At the same time, that’s not to say that holidays are amazing either. They can be just as stressful, if not even more stressful than the job hunt. But the difference is you’ve probably been able to manage holiday stress while being on the job.
You can replicate that here too – except that, instead of working, you’re searching for work… Which is obvious, really. Don’t know why I had to say it out loud. Must be the holiday stress.
December 2021 – at odds with predecessors
Normally, December is a month that sees a significant decrease in job postings. As it turns out, however, this year is showing markedly different signs; it’s like a vacant-job-candidacy-hell is breaking loose. (I mean that in the best way possible, by the way. The point is: There’s an abundance of opportunities right now, and I wouldn’t want to miss that wave if I were you.)
The ‘Holiday Hiring Freeze,’ a term usually used to refer to the decline in job opportunities around this time of the year, seems to be finally thawing. There are several reasons why this occurs (which I won’t get into here), but the reason it’s different this year is actually quite simple: COVID.
A global lever
Which makes perfect sense, if you think about it. The benefits that employees value have shifted after the pandemic became ‘the norm,’ so to speak. People now value things like workplace flexibility, working from home, and a more sustainable work/life balance. (Also keep in mind that this year is compensating for the hiring freezes – not to mention the layoffs – in most of 2020, not just December.)
Tips to overcome the job search slump
At the risk of contradicting myself, I’m going to come out with a piece of advice that might just blow your mind: TAKE A BREAK.
Now, hear me out, because that’s not necessarily the same as what I said at the beginning. What I mean is to schedule regular activities that replenish you physically and mentally (e.g., taking a walk, reading a book, meditating, shutting off all electronics, etc.) while staying consistent with your job search.
Otherwise, you’ll be putting yourself under too much pressure, and before long, you’ll buckle. Not a good place to be in when you still haven’t found a job, let alone when you’re showing up for your first day on the job. A relevant piece of advice I came across: “Job searching is stressful enough but getting burnout while doing it becomes counterproductive quickly.”
Hope is not a strategy… but a strategy?
While we’re on the subject of strategies… Use one. Don’t have it? Come up with it. A job search strategy alongside a job search schedule will avert a lot of mental weight down the road.
Stay in touch with existing connections. Use your existing network to discover any vacancies within your target companies. An old friend or colleague might have a connection within any company, which would in turn have a job opportunity that fits the bill.
Finally, just stay focused and put one foot in front of the other. You always end up somewhere – if you stick to it, and don’t let up.
As they say, you never know how you’re going to land your next position.
(They don’t. I just like saying it that way for dramatic effect. Incidentally, you might be interested in more meaty blog posts like this. Y’know, to help with your job hunt. You know what to do!)
