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Is Your Job Search Stressing You Out? How to Set Realistic Goals

Maybe you have held it's place in the task market more than you expected? Are you frustrated because you only don't see the maximum amount of progress as you'd like and because you are feeling like success-the perfect new job-is eluding you?

There's no doubt that job searching could be stressful. Not only are you experiencing to deal in what often feels like rejection, if you're currently unemployed, financial concerns may be an extra stressor. It may not be far better if you're looking for a new job while currently employed, while probably trying to juggle a great deal to do in too little spare time, and are often worrying that the current employer may learn about your job search prematurely.

No matter the method that you view it, job searching is stressful!

But, could your beliefs be making your job search even more stressful than it could be otherwise? Let's look at a few of the very common beliefs that lots of job seekers hold, and that could cause undue stress.

1. Comparing yourself to others.

Did your neighbor Mary land the task of her dreams after looking for just a week? Does cousin Bob brag that he sent out his resume to 20 companies and got demands 20 interviews in exchange?

Every single person is unique. The qualifications and credentials they feature, the experiences they bring to the table, the achievements and results they have manufactured in the past-every job seeker is different. Also, each situation is different. One industry may be expanding while another is contracting trouver un emploi. The economy in a single geographic area may be booming while another is declining. Certain professions tend to be more in demand than others.

It's simply a mistake to compare your job search to any other...not even to a colleague with virtually identical qualifications and goals as yours. You can't compare apples to oranges...you can't even accurately compare an orange delicious apple to a red delicious apple.

Instead, be ready to release the comparisons and see if instead there's a training in another person's job search. While the specific situation is different, perhaps they used a specific technique that one could adjust to your own personal search. Comparisons almost inevitably cause unnecessary worry and stress and oftentimes blind you to a training which may assist you to along your path.

2. Holding unrealistic expectations

Sure, it is possible that one could distribute your resume Friday and have a job offer Monday afternoon. Anything is possible. But it is unlikely.

It is very important to recognize that even the AVERAGE job search often takes months. The traditional guideline is to arrange for one month of job searching for each and every $10,000 of salary you are seeking. If that is accurate, is debatable. But, what is clear is that job searching often takes time. Just taking a moment to think about the hiring cycle will reveal that is true: a business may solicit and collect resumes for an opening over an amount of weeks, then they spend another couple of weeks interviewing and re-interviewing candidates, then another couple of weeks conducting reference checks and making a decision. It's the rare job search that will conclude successfully in a time that's shorter than even the normal hiring cycle.

Of course, you've no control over these external hiring processes. All you are able to control are your own personal actions. So, if you anticipate your phone to be ringing off the hook for interviews and you only sent your resume out for the very first time the other day, or if you anticipate a solid job offer just a couple of weeks into your search, or if you have other goals or hold other expectation that aren't realistic, you are just setting yourself up for disappointment and stress.

So, what is the answer to these faulty ways of thinking?

Goal-setting-realistic goal-setting--is absolutely essential. You need to be thinking constantly about your job search and the goals you've set for yourself. In this manner, you maintain awareness and open yourself to recognize and act on opportunities that arise.

While the greatest goal, obviously, is to accomplish your target job, setting this as the goal that you strive for every day and weekly can result in frustration. The specific timing of when you're offered and accept a job is often predicated on factors that are outside your control. Thus, setting an objective that you will achieve a supply for the target job in 6 weeks, as an example, can just result in frustration and a loss of motivation when six weeks comes and goes with no offer in sight.

While I certainly encourage you setting a job offer that matches your target as your general INTENTION, as your actual working goals, I suggest that you select goals linked to events and activities associated with looking for your new job. To keep your goals manageable and motivating, I suggest you place weekly goals. It's important that you take note of your goals on paper.

To summarize, your goals must certanly be:



Attainable while providing challenging
Written
Specific
Stated in a confident way
Manageable
Measurable and trackable
Timed with a deadline
Job searching may be stressful, but by resetting faulty beliefs and following some basic, proven goal-setting techniques, you possibly can make it much less so.



Review your goals daily to make sure you stay on the right track and to regulate your schedule if necessary. To keep yourself motivated, always remember to plan a reward on your own at the conclusion of the week. This may be spending an evening out with friends, giving yourself permission to spend a day in a hammock reading a book, or investing in a new sweater that you really wanted. Whatever it is, make sure it's a thing that you enjoy and you will undoubtedly be motivated to work for. It's amazing how successful you will feel-how successful you will know you are-when you begin measuring your success by how much you've accomplished as opposed to be how much further you've to go!

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