How to Stay Confident During a Lengthy Job Search
No doubt you’ve unhelpfully been told to “keep trying” – but when you’re faced with a never-ending job search, how can you keep on keeping on?
With procurement still being one of the most in-demand professions worldwide, if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of being made redundant, you would have every reason to believe you can land another role within a few weeks. Unfortunately, especially at the moment, that may not be the case.
With inflation still high in most developed countries, many companies are laying off employees en masse, and this means there isn’t always a job waiting for those that lose theirs.
As every procurement professional knows, looking for a job can be grueling, and if your job search stretches out from weeks to months, it’s easy for your confidence to take a nosedive.
If this happens to you, you could quickly find yourself frustrated, angry and lacking self-esteem which can, in turn, affect your search, especially if you’re bringing these emotions to job interviews.
So, in order to keep your spirits (and chances of success) high, here’s how to stay confident during a lengthy job search:
Create a networking group
As all successful procurement professionals know, networking is a key element of career success.
Networking is particularly important during a lengthy job search because it can serve two purposes. Firstly, it can help connect with you with potential (non-advertised) opportunities, and secondly it can connect you with other procurement professionals who are also experiencing the highs and lows of job searching. This can help validate your feelings, vent, share strategies, keep each other accountable, and ultimately celebrate success.
There are many ways to create networking groups, including via Procurious.
Set regular goals – and stick to them
After you’ve been extremely busy with a high-demand procurement role, it can be daunting finding yourself with eight plus hours per day to fill. And if you’ve got too much time to think about your situation, unfortunately your thoughts (and confidence) can backslide.
For this reason, with a lengthy job search, it’s important to set regular daily, weekly and monthly goals – and ensure you stick to them.
Just like you would in your procurement role, start with your larger goals, and then split them into smaller, more manageable tasks. For example, your first task might be updating your resume, and your second might be researching potential opportunities and connecting with people.
Once you’ve got your goals figured out, allocate time to each, incorporating plenty of breaks. At the end of each day, week and month, ensure that you tick tasks off your list. This will help you feel a sense of accomplishment, even if you haven’t landed your dream job yet.
Remind yourself why you’re brilliant
Job searching can be exhausting and demotivating, so when engaged in a lengthy search, ensure that you schedule regular ‘me’ time. This includes time to remind yourself why you are already a successful procurement professional.
If you’re finding it difficult to remember this, write down five of your key career achievements and consciously look at them regularly. If you need some new inspiration a few weeks into your search, try asking people in your network what they think your key achievements have been.
Regularly making time for yourself, including time to celebrate the successes you’ve already had, will help keep your confidence high while you search for your new role.
How long has it typically taken you to land a new role after leaving a previous one? Do you have any more tips to maintain confidence during this time? Let us know in the comments below.
