Looking for a new job can be a tiring process. If you are getting worn out by searching, applying, and interviewing, you may be getting dangerously close to burnout.
Don’t keep struggling. Get help finding your next job by talking to Liberty Staffing! We help job seekers find work quickly, and we would love to help you!
In the meantime, staying engaged and avoiding burnout is a goal you should prioritize.
What is Burnout?
Often when people talk about burnout, they are talking mostly about burnout in the workplace. At work, burnout is a form of job stress that leads to people feeling listless, unsatisfied, overwhelmed, and even depressed.
In the interview process, burnout can look like tiredness, sloppiness, or a lack of motivation.
What Causes Burnout During the Interview Process?
To put it simply, interviewing is not easy for job applicants. You have to prepare for each interview, make a great first impression, think quickly on your feet to answer complicated questions, and hope for the best. If you make it to the interview process, that doesn’t guarantee that you are getting the job, of course.
It can take weeks and even months to secure a new job, and that can mean multiple interviews. Interviewing and then not getting the job can be discouraging.
One of the most obvious causes of application burnout is feeling like you’re not accomplishing anything through your job application process. Applying, interviewing, and failing to get the position may very well lead to burnout.
How to Avoid Burnout
When you feel burned out on the application process, you may find yourself getting sloppy or careless. Suddenly you don’t feel as motivated to double-check your application attachments, or your cover letters start getting shorter and less detailed.
You’ll likely make mistakes that will end up costing you job opportunities that otherwise would have been great for you. It’s quite likely that this kind of burnout can actually prolong your job search.
The problem becomes a cycle: you interview, you get discouraged when you don’t get the job, you perform poorly on your next interview because you were discouraged, you get even more frustrated because you didn’t get that position either, and so on–indefinitely.
How can you avoid feeling discouraged or depressed while job searching? We help applicants find jobs all the time–that’s our main responsibility as a staffing agency. With our many years of experience, we have learned some good strategies for avoiding burnout and maintaining a positive attitude about finding a new job.
Be Patient
We know, we know. This one sounds obvious. But we mean it! If you start the process with the expectation that this isn’t going to be a really fast process, you can manage your expectations and build your stamina for the start-to-finish of the job search.
Be Consistent
We recommend making a checklist and always following it when you are applying for jobs. That way, you can avoid costly mistakes.
What should go on your checklist? You want to double check all of the application information. Have you spelled everyone’s names correctly, and the company’s name? Have you updated your cover letter to reflect each new position you are applying for? Have you adjusted your resume for small changes? If you have included any hyperlinks in a digital application, do they direct people to the correct, functional website?
A checklist will help you make sure that you don’t haphazardly apply for jobs.
Keep Good Records
If you’re going to apply for several jobs at once, it can get a little confusing. It is not uncommon for each job to have a different application system, website, and interview process.
Keeping good notes (either on paper or digitally) will keep you on track so that you don’t miss appointments, interviews, or follow-up emails.
Write down where you have applied to work, how you applied (in person, via email, on the company website, or through an application portal), and who you have communicated with. Track dates and don’t forget to make a note of how the company prefers that you check in.
Take Breaks
We don’t recommend scheduling several interviews back-to-back if you can avoid it. If you are taking part in several interviews, try to give yourself at least a day in between each one. That will allow you to appropriately prepare for each one and decompress when it is finished. Don’t forget to send that follow up “thank you” notice to the person who interviewed you.
Want to Speed Things Up? Work With a Staffing Agency
Staffing agencies help applicants find better jobs, faster. At Liberty Staffing, we make connections between job seekers and companies who are currently hiring. We can help eliminate the need for countless interviews and repeated applications because submitting one application with us opens the door to countless job opportunities throughout Southern Ontario.
Questions? Ready to take those steps? Reach out today to get started!
