Keep your sanity while job hunting

Job interviews are generally nerve wracking. You want to show yourself in the best light, but that fact by itself could make you so nervous that you end up anxiety ridden and less confident than you would like to be. This is the case whether this is your first interview or whether you’re an old hand at putting yourself on the job market.

But what if you’re currently not employed because you quit your last job? It can be twice as hard to know what to say and leave thehiring manager with a good impression of you. In most cases, you are afraid the fact that you are out of the workplace is going to reflect badly on you, and the longer you are tarmacking, the more nervous you get and the more you start to lose faith in yourself.

The psychology

Are you currently unemployed? Beating yourself up over it every day you’re applying for roles and every day you’re out without a job is just going to affect your confidence in yourself, and this will come across to anyone speaking with or interviewing you. Choose instead to adopt the attitude ‘what is done is done, how can I turn a bad situation into a positive one?’

Yes, it may be easier said than done but at this point the most important thing is to keep your spirits up and not to lose faith in yourself.

Keep busy

From volunteering, to entrepreneurial ventures, every journey has a story behind it and you should tell that story in the light that portrays you best.

Keep Reading

If you’re at the beginning of your unemployed stint, this is the time to pursue things that would be important to your personal growth and development while you look for a role – think volunteering, interning, taking an online or offline class and brushing up or learning a skill. The more you are able to show that you grew as a professional while you were out of the workplace, the less potential employers will dismiss you. Do this even if it is two or three days a week.

Your story

Do not lie on your resume or cover letter, but always keep in mind that the story is yours and you are in charge of how you tell it. If you have a gap in your resume, be the one to start the conversation by addressing it proactively, without waiting for the recruiter to wonder why you are committing lies of omission.

Put in a brief statement about the position ending unexpectedly due to a change in structure, retrenchment etc, but then move on to interesting and exciting things you have been doing since then. The same applies if you stayed home to raise a family.