Article Categories
» Arts & Entertainment
» Automotive
» Business
» Careers & Jobs
» Education & Reference
» Finance
» Food & Drink
» Health & Fitness
» Home & Family
» Internet & Online Businesses
» Miscellaneous
» Self Improvement
» Shopping
» Society & News
» Sports & Recreation
» Technology
» Travel & Leisure
» Writing & Speaking

  Listed Article

  Category: Articles » Careers & Jobs » Article
 

Job Search Survival: Emotional Damage Control




By Virginia Bola, PsyD

Looking for work is a roller-coaster ride: high with elation when you think you've found a great position, low with discouragement when you realize that someone else was offered a job you wanted.

Most of the time, you fall somewhere in between, your mood cycling from cautious optimism to keen disappointment. You try to conceal the inner turmoil, turning a brave face to the world, trying to convince everyone that you are "just fine."

For the sake of your health and your sanity, try these approaches:

1. Identify someone who is willing to be a sounding board for you: your significant other, a fellow job seeker, a career counselor, a good friend. Explain that you need someone to help you express the feelings inside and gain a better understanding of what is happening to you emotionally. Then talk to them, for a few minutes. You don't want to become a burden and your listener is not a paid therapist. Ten minutes of honest revelation and analysis a few times per week can help you avoid ulcers, family fights growing out of your frustration, self-isolation, and will free up the energy it takes to hold everything in. That is energy you need to conserve for job search.

2. Start a journal, if you don't already have one. Chronicle your activities, how you feel while doing them, and how you feel afterwards. Watch the patterns of your emotions so that you can start to predict when something is going to be stressful and uncomfortable. Schedule a fun activity afterwards to help you regain your balance. If certain activities make you feel buoyant and hopeful, concentrate on increasing such activities throughout the week.

3. Approach interviews with the thought that each one is really only practice for the perfect position you will eventually find. Perform as well as you can without investing your sense of worth in one person's decision. If it takes a hundred interviews to secure a job, each "No" you receive brings you one step closer to that final "Yes" you are seeking and therefore every step on the road to unemployment is worthwhile and "rejection" no longer belongs in your vocabulary.

Acknowledging the pressures and emotional swings of unemployment and job search will help you look at the situation more objectively and allow you to continue to function in other important areas of your life, those not connected with work or income.
 
 
About the Author
Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a respected Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers' Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and emotionally supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://www.unemploymentblues.com

Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/1715.html
 
If you wish to add the above article to your website or newsletters then please include the "Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/1715.html" as shown above and make it hyperlinked.



  Some other articles by Virginia Bola, PsyD
Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking
When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think of upwardly mobile college graduates with a bursting day timer in hand chatting up the competition at business meetings, conventions, or ...

Overwhelmed and Overworked: The Myth of American Productivity
Employment finally seemed back on track during the last few months of 2004. Politicians crowed that "Our tax cuts are working." Then, without warning, further ...

Job Winning Tactic: Organize Your Attack
Looking for work is an energy-devouring ordeal, often leading to running in circles and not getting anywhere. A systematic approach can help you focus on your ...

Unemployment Survival Barriers: Losing Ourselves
When we lose our jobs, no matter the reason, we lose a big part of our identity. Think of the last several ...

Unemployment Challenge: Downward Mobility
All the indicators show an improving economy and, finally, the start of job growth. More than eight million unemployed workers see hope around the corner and re-enter the nightmare of job ...

Layoff Survival Technique: Create Your Own Job Security
In a time of economic downturn, international turmoil, company restructuring and corporate mergers run amok, thousands of people are either out of work or fearful of losing their jobs. Is there, then, such a ...

  
  Recent Articles
Layoffs, redundancy, survival guide.
by John Harriyott

A Great Career Path in Bioengineering
by Jullie Harvard

Get an Online Degree That Will Look Good on Resumes
by Jullie Harvard

Get Started Your Career In Nursing
by Jullie Harvard

What Are Your Career Futures with an Art Degree?
by Jullie Harvard

Oil jobs – how is life in the middle of the ocean?
by Rick Martin

Gas jobs: a variety of options
by Rick Martin

How To Utilize A Career Test To Find You Dream Job
by David Richards

Are You Interested In A Private Investigation Job?
by Dean Caporella

Career Advice: Three Secrets to Telling Your Story for Career and Life Success
by Ed Sykes

Data Warehousing and SAP BW
by Ron victor

Driving Your New Career
by Gary Bailey

Can't connect to database