You’ve been looking for work for months. You’re worried. You’re stressed. You’re ANXIOUS! Let’s turn that anxiety into a force for good: using anxiety as motivation, transforming your worries and fears into constructive action during the job search process.
Not to worry. Remember, feeling anxious during a job search is normal. Whether you’re looking for work because you lost your job or you’re looking while still employed, a job search is stressful.
It’s uncertain: “When will I find a great position?!” There’s pressure to succeed, and you feel anxious. And then you think you’re weak (because you’re anxious).
It’s a wonder that we don’t become more stressed in our job search!
Fueling your productivity
Rather than sitting around being anxious, use that anxious energy to good use to feed your productivity.
We tend to be more alert and focused when anxious. Use this to help you keep busy setting goals and creating a plan for your search, networking, updating your resume, and researching – and reaching out to – possible employers.
Self-improvement
Use your anxiety to motivate you to improve your skill set. Use this time to figure out where you can enhance your qualifications and/or learn new skills that improve your chances of landing the types of jobs you want.
Look into online courses. Attend workshops. Pursue certifications.
Investing in your professional development like this will not only lessen your anxiety but help you take concrete steps toward your new position/goals.
Bonus: it also makes you more appealing to employers.
Networking
Anxiety can help you with your networking efforts.
While the thought of reaching out to strangers feels intimidating, reframing it as a great chance to grow your professional network and learn from people who know more than you do.
Look at networking as something similar to sleuthing: you’re looking to learn and seek advice (looking for info and clues).
View your networking as being of benefit to those you’re approaching. After all, you no doubt know things they don’t! You’re helping them, as well.
Looking at networking this way will help lessen some of the pressure and “nerves” because you’ll be creating genuine connections/relationships that could lead to your next job.
Proactivity for the win
Anxiety also could make you more proactive. Rather than waiting passively for job openings to pop up, consider taking the initiative and exploring hidden job opportunities.
This means that you could reach out to your network to see if there are job openings yet to be advertised. Or you could see an opening listed, and then you take a big gulp and reach out to the person in your network who works there for more information and ask if they could find out the name and contact information of the hiring manager.
Taking control of the job search process, you’ll uncover “hidden” opportunities. Your proactivity in reaching out shows interest as well as courage. Remember, these are highly desirable traits in employees.
A job search is a great way to grow personally, not just professionally. Use your nervousness/anxiety to motivate yourself to improve both personally and professionally.
Here’s an “easy” way to reach out to an employer: register with Debbie’s Staffing.
Yes, you can also check out our current job opportunities and apply for those that appeal to you.
Yet even if you don’t see any that match your skills and/or goals, send us your resume; we often fill positions with those who do before we can post a job to the job board.
