How to Stay Motivated During a Job Search

Here are some things you can do to stay on track and keep on searching:

1. Get some exercise.  Go for a long walk every day, or go to a gym to work out.  Take a jog, go for a swim.  Do something every day to get your adrenaline pumping.

2.  Get a job search buddy.  It would be great for you if you know someone else looking for a job, but if you don’t that’s okay.  Ask a friend to be your job search buddy.  Call in once a week and update your friend on what you have done in the past week and what you plan to do in the next week.

3. Plan your day.  If you are working you need to spend three hours a day or 15 hours a week on your job search. If you are not working, treat your job search as a job – spend 35 hours a week on your hunt. Plan those hours carefully writing emails, doing internet research, meeting your network, making phone calls, getting meetings, and interviews.

4. Volunteer. – Make sure you have something else to do that feels productive, whether tutoring after school, or helping out at the homeless shelter or food pantry.  This takes you out of yourself a couple of hours a week.

5. Get a career coach.  As with any behavioral change, it is important to be consistent, and have a neutral third party with special expertise who can help you through the process.  When you want to invest your money, you go to a financial advisor, when you want to get fit, you use a personal trainer, and when you want to lose weight you go to a weekly meeting.  So, too, with a job search, the best way to get advice and stay motivated is to use a personal career coach.

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