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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

3 Tips for Keeping Your Morale Up While Job Hunting

Starting a new job or even a new career can be exciting, but the process of looking for work can be stressful and demoralizing at times.

You might not be getting the responses you want on your resume, or you may go through a few disappointing interviews. An important thing to remember when it comes to job hunting is that you don't need lots of sparkling interviews. You just need the one that matters. You'll find the right fit eventually, but in the meantime, the tips below can help you cope with some of the stresses.

Role Play

If you're worried about interviews or feel like you're not coming across as well as you'd like to in interviews, do some practice. Having a friend role play with you is great, but if there's not someone you feel comfortable asking, you can also record yourself with your phone or computer answering typical questions and look back at how you do. The idea is not to make you even more self-conscious but to help you identify speech patterns, posture or other verbal or non-verbal communication issues that could prevent potential employers from seeing your full potential. This practice can also help you get better at answering standard interview questions.

Manage Your Money

Job hunting can be particularly stressful if you're worried about money. You might want to look at ways to lower your expenses, such as having a roommate move in if you live on your own. If you have several student loans, you might struggle to keep up with all the different due dates. You might save money if you combine into one payment with a student loan consolidation using a private lender. This can also make the payment process easier since you just have one payment to make. If you are eligible for unemployment, be sure to apply for it. If you are on the hunt for a career-type position but struggling financially, you might want to consider picking up some gig work or any kind of job for now just to have money coming in.

Re-Frame the Outlook

If you currently have a job that you don't like or you lost your last job, you might be dealing with a lot of negative thoughts. Thinking things like you bet you’ll be as unhappy at the new job as the old one or your boss probably won't like you at the new job either is unpleasant, but it's also common and normal. Try to re-frame how you are thinking about things. It can be hard to see job loss or unhappiness at your current position as an opportunity, but when you look at what you are going through in a more positive light, this is going to come through in interviews as well. You can also try to look at what you dislike about your current or previous position and think about how you can change that in your next one. A career counselor, life coach or therapist may be helpful in talking you through this.