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Many people started 2020 with just one goal in mind: new year, new job. But like all worthy and difficult life changes, staying committed to the process is the hardest part.
In fact, according to U.S. News and World Report, over 80% of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by mid-February. This means that lots of job seekers have already let go of their dream for finding a new job that will grant them better work-life balance, pay more money or provide an escape from a difficult boss.
During this time of year especially, it’s vital to remind yourself that the reasons you chose to look for a new job in the first place are too important to give up on. If you are already starting to lose steam with your 2020 job search or are frustrated with the one you launched in 2019, here are three tips to help you refresh your strategy, pace yourself and find new ways to stay motivated.
1. Take your search offline
It’s understandable that there may be times when you need to cut back on the amount of effort you are dedicating to your search. This is especially true if your current job or personal life starts placing an increased demand on your energy.
The thing to keep in mind when scaling back on job search tasks is to prioritize the higher-yield activities. While it’s much more convenient to cut back on networking in favor of scrolling through online job postings, it is also a lot less effective. If you only have time for networking or online searching, you should choose networking, every time.
In addition to the convenience of searching online, seeing and applying to a job posting provides immediate gratification and feels like a real step forward, while checking in on old mentors, bosses and colleagues leaves you with unclear expectations on what might come next. It’s natural to start wondering if networking is truly worth the effort.
Ignore these doubts, because networking conversations will always be the best use of your time in any job search. Networking is how you will receive referrals that help you stand out as a candidate in a crowded field or gain the inside connection on a job that isn’t (and will never be) posted online. In a perfect world, make time for both networking and searching online, but if you can only do one, there’s no question which one you should choose.
Even if you have time for both, but are finding yourself uninspired, spend time doubling down on your networking efforts while ignoring online postings, as this can give your search a fresh jump start.
2. Raise your standards
If you have the luxury of quitting or pausing your job search, then you are probably gainfully employed and somewhat content already. That doesn’t mean that you want to stay where you are forever, but it does mean that you have the option to do so and are not in a rush.
Take advantage of this unique opportunity and launch what is often a longer but more rewarding search for a bigger and better job.
Without realizing it, you may have set your job search standards so low that you simply aren’t excited enough about the new role you’re searching for to keep working toward it. If this is you, consider upping your job search criteria and start pushing exclusively for a more senior or significantly better paying position.
Oddly, you may even find that you have greater success in a job search targeting a higher titled or stretch role than during a search for a job that matches your current one. Being seen as ambitious and ready for the next step makes you a more desirable candidate than when you were targeting jobs that you may have seemed overqualified for.
Companies want to hire top talent and top talent take risks and bet on themselves. A job search is not the time to be shy or downplay your capabilities because it will take courage to boldly sell others on your potential.
Before you stop your search entirely, consider relaunching it instead, targeting a new and more meaningful opportunity.
3. Create a secondary goal
During a job search it is almost impossible to measure progress. It takes what feels like forever to attract the jobs you want and even when you make it to the final rounds, there’s no way of knowing if you will ultimately get the job.
In the meantime, all that waiting and hoping can drain your motivation. That’s why most job seekers benefit from having a secondary goal to work toward throughout the process, something more tangible that you can track real progress against.
These goals may be things like targeting a specific list of people (mentees or friends launching businesses) who you want to help make new connections, looking out for new and unique volunteer opportunities or gathering information you’ll need for a future side hustle. Each one of these objectives can easily be woven into your job search networking discussions which will allow those conversations to serve multiple purposes.
Chances are that you will dedicate more time toward relationship building during your job searches than at any other points in your professional life. Use these occasions to accomplish any goal that also requires disciplined networking.
If you clearly articulate to yourself what your secondary goals are and how you will measure progress, you are much more likely to stay motivated and see the value in your search activity even when you haven’t landed the job you want just yet.
Remember, while job search fatigue is almost inevitable, it doesn’t have to hold you back. Plan wisely and don’t be afraid to refresh or restart a dwindling search.
Kourtney Whitehead is a career expert and author of Working Whole. You can learn more about her work at Simply Service.
