Keep Calm and Job Hunt On: How to Stay Motivated While Searching for Work

Searching for a job can be discouraging: reviewing job boards, updating your resume, writing a custom cover letter, and submitting your application; then doing it all over again. Sometimes you get an interview – hurrah! And sometimes – most of the time – you get silence.

If you’ve been searching for a job for a long time, with hardly any call backs, staying motivated to keep looking for work can feel impossible. Keep heart, though; you can get that offer letter!

A friend of one of CreativeCareer’s team member, let’s call him Joe Downonhisluck was laid off from his dream job. He was crushed. He applied for positions in the same field across the country, and nothing. Silence not for months, but for years. Three years, to be exact. But he never quit. He kept going, took classes, networked, until finally, he was offered a position, close to his home, that was better than the one he left.

If he can stay motivated – after THREE years of searching – you can too.

Here are four tips to help you not only stay motivated while searching for work, but to have fun, too.

Set Small Juicy Challenges Each Day in Your Job Hunt

You know to set goals. You probably know as well to make them small and attainable. For example, instead of chasing this large goal: “Get a new design job”, set small measurable goals like “apply for two jobs each day.”

If you’ve been setting goals like a champ for months, and still feel your motivation waning, here’s where you can have some fun and up your motivation: make your goals juicy. Why “juicy”? Because juicy goals will get you excited about your daily tasks. Which would you rather do today:

• Update cover letter.
• Apply for design job.

Or

• Showcase superhero design strengths in the best cover letter ever!
• Connect with a new industry friend.

What gets you excited about your goals? Engage with that excitement and transform your daily goals accordingly. With juicy goals, when you review them each morning, you’ll be excited to cross them off.

Make New Friends (aka Get Out of The House and Network!)

Yes, computers are great, and we like hanging out with our computers as much as the next person, but let’s be honest: your computer’s not going to get you a job. Your connections are. So getting out of the house during a job hunt is not only good for your spirits and motivation, but helpful for your job search too.

Join groups related to your industry: check out Meetup.com, industry associations, or LinkedIn for events in your area. Or if you’re tired of the same old networking, join any social group that interests you. Sports, dancing, drawing, pottery whatever. Some of the best career connections we’ve made were through our hobbies, which aren’t related to our career.

Talk to people, tell them what you’re doing: tell them you’re an aspiring or already amazing professional looking for work. Be open about your goals. Ask your friends if they know of anyone who could use your services. Talk, talk, talk; don’t be shy. And have fun!

Do Your Job – For Fun – To Rekindle Your Job Search Excitement

What type of job are you applying for? Since you’re here on CreativeCareer.ca, we’ll guess that it’s a creative job; maybe as a copywriter, photographer, social media guru, producer, art director, or designer.

Well, don’t just apply for these jobs while you look for work, do them! Get out and do a photoshoot and share your work online. Write on Medium.com. Set up an Instagram channel, create a theme, have fun with it. Create your own design projects. Keep learning. Keep reminding yourself WHY you’re slogging through a job search: so you can get paid doing what you love to do!

Or if you don’t love the job that you’re searching for, nurture your creative passions as a side hustle while you apply for the work you need. Remember those juicy small goals that you’re going to start setting? Add them to your daily to-do list, in a fun way. Here’s a new potential addition to your to-do list:

• Touch hearts everywhere with adorable photo series of Chester, the dog at CreativeCareer’s offices

Or whatever’s fun and relevant for you. Build up your portfolio, while you look for work. You’ll find motivation in it to keep job searching and make yourself an even stronger candidate as the same time.

Make Some Cash to Sustain Enthusiasm in the Hunt for Your Perfect Position

This last tip is a practical one that’s important for staying motivated on the job hunt. If you’re not already working, and if it makes sense for your situation, get a part-time job. Even if it’s one that’s not related to your career. Love books and reading? Help at a bookstore. Love music? Sell records. Are you super social and thrive on being around people? Apply to work at a restaurant.

If you’re not working while you’re applying for your dream job, seeing your bank balance shrink each month is not only demotivating, but stressful. Get a part-time job, doing something you like, knowing that it’s temporary. Taking these types of part-time jobs after college can seem like a step backward, but it’s not! See it as a step forward to helping you get to where you need to be, while keeping your motivation and positive attitude intact.

Do you have any other tips that help you stay motivated while looking for work? Let us know in the comments below. Or check our job posting board. We have a lot of great job postings here at CreativeCareer that you may want to bookmark for your job search. Your next incredible creative career awaits!

Having a diverse set of skills is important to landing a job in the marketing industry, so make sure to check out which skills are required to succeed in marketing in this blogpost.