Job Search Burnout: Symptoms and Tips

Burnout, a term that many of us have felt before we’ve been able to put it into words. A thick smoke of exhaustion that seeming clings to the bones and spirit, but when in search of the flames that cause such smog, the heat is undetectable. What happens when this burnout takes siege of our sight while search for employment?

 

  Searching for a new job against steep competition especially in the face of inflation can be overwhelming to a point of job search burn out. The current job search  is a pressure sitting on 3.7 percent of Americans shoulders’ according to the U.S. Department of Labor as of August 2022. Job search burn out shares many of the requirements for your standard work exhaustion as described by Christina Maslach, social psychologist and professor emerita of psychology at University of California, Berkeley and Michael Leiter, an organizational psychologist consultant. Maslach and Leiter explain in their article "Understanding the Burnout Experience: Recent Research and its Implications for Psychiatry that burnout consists of three keys.

 

   “The three key dimensions of this response are an overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment", Maslach and Leiter state. When considering the stipulations for this severe physical and mental fatigue, these are emotions you can easily run into while looking for employment and falling prey to a feeling of “ineffectiveness” as you run into the same rejections.

 

  In this process of relentlessly pursuing applications there are often feelings of guilt when considering solutions that lie in recovery. Often our society encourages persistent efforts, taking a break before having your breakthrough is hardly ever discussed, even though it’s necessary. An ambitious job search is about hard work but not at the risk of being depleted before you get the job.

 

 We find that the ideal solutions for job search burn out require:

• Getting your resume reviewed and giving it a makeover.

Reviewing and revitalizing your resume with a change of word choice, layout and expanding your skillset can be a helpful change in the monotony of applying for employment. Having your resume reviewed by another pair of eyes can insure that you can remove your resume from your list of job search challenges.

•  Taking rejection as a professional redirection and not taking it personal at all.

When pursuing a job it’s recommended by CNBC writer, Jennifer Lu in the article, “6 Ways to Manager Burnout During a Long Job Search” not to take things personal. Lu shared “The outcome of your application is dependent on the complex ecosystem of the job market, down to how each organization has changed its hiring process in light of the pandemic”. When you consider all of the outside factors that go into the hiring process, taking a rejection personal is the easiest way to waste your vital valuable energy.

•  Recognizing your application is just as important as the job you’re applying to. 

When applying for these positions you must remember that you are applying because you have a skillset that the company needs. The company is looking for someone like you, you are the piece they need for better completion of their company’s success. Forbes Business Writer, Ekaterina Walter shared in their article, “Your Company is Only as Extraordinary as Your People” that a company’s employees give life to the brand’s goal and mission. Walter states, “Your company is truly only as great as the people who embody the mission of your organization, those who go above and beyond to see the company succeed and to make your customers happy”. Recognize your worth as a potential employee and be empowered by that.  Being hired isn’t an act of a company taking pity on you. Being hired initiates a relationship that benefits yourself and your potential place of work. Leveling how you see yourself in comparison to how you see potential workplaces is vital to maintaining you’re a healthy sense of self-worth on your job journey.

• Resting when necessary.

Searching for employment includes, identifying keywords for the kind of workplace you’re interested in, digital literacy to handle the numerous job apps and hiring sites, background research of the companies in question, cover letting writing, resume formatting and pruning your digital footprint for the eyes of a potential hiring manager. Being skillful in your job search is required for efficiency and productivity. The level of energy expended to make yourself visible to potential recruiters must be recovered by having adequate amounts of rest. When you are looking for a job, you’re essentially working for yourself and your deserving of recuperation.

 

  Ultimately, job search burnout presents enough difficulty and rejection that it can mirror workplace burnout before you even get to the workplace. Be kind to yourself and recognize that you are your greatest asset and will be the greatest asset to the team you eventually join once hired. The job search itself is not the main character, you are and how you care for yourself in your time of vulnerability.