4 Tips to Support Your Mental Health When Job Seeking

Is just the thought of job searching anxiety-inducing? It’s not just you – around 56% of job seekers report that looking for a new job has a negative impact on their mental health.

Job seeking can be overwhelming and grueling, causing anxiety and low mood. This can be caused by any aspect of your job search, from anxiety around meeting new people, stress around interviewing, the uncertainty of the future, and the rejection after an interview or applying for a new role.

Warning signs your job search is impacting your mood:

• No longer enjoying hobbies or tasks
• Difficulty getting out of bed
• Difficulty focusing
• Procrastination
• Feelings of being helpless or worthless
• Increased irritability

It’s important to notice when these feelings arise, especially as they can appear at any point in your job search.

How can you boost negative mood and improve your mental health?

1. Follow a routine

If you’re unemployed – treat looking for a new job as your job. Setting working days, such as 9-5 (if you’re used to working that way) helps to set clear boundaries and enables you to still enjoy time outside of your job hunt. Just make sure you’re taking regular breaks throughout the day!

If you’re employed – make sure you’re still spending time doing things that mean a lot to you and help you to unwind. By keeping your hobbies and having a good work/life balance, the job search may seem less overwhelming.

2. Remember that it’s not personal

Looking for a new job can mean that you face rejection throughout the process, whether that be in the application stage or further down the line while you’re interviewing.

There are so many other things to keep in mind when job hunting and so many of them are outside of your control. There could be multiple reasons why you have been rejected and it doesn’t mean that the team did not like you as a person.

If you learn from every interaction you have and work on the feedback that you’ve been given then this will help get you one step closer to a yes!

3. Change up your strategy

If you’ve been doing the same thing for a while with results that aren’t what you’re hoping for, it may be time to switch it up.

Will you work better from a coffee shop or in an outside space?

Are you struggling to find traction with your CV? Ask a trusted friend / Recruiter to help you review it and see if there is anything you can amend to appeal more to the roles you are applying for. It may even help to personalise it for each job that you’re applying for.

4. Ask for help

Facing your job search alone can be lonely, so why not ask for help?

There are so many people that are happy to help you in your job search; specialist Recruiters, friends and your LinkedIn network to name a few.

You’re not alone!