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5 Ways to Manage Job Search Frustration

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Baby Boomers and Gen Xers: if you want to seriously bum out the youth of today, tell them about how you once lost your job, in the good old days before the recession, and had another one before your severance ran out. Looking for a job nowadays is tough, and it can take a lot of time and effort to find the right gig. To say it’s “frustrating” is an understatement.

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(Photo Credit: e-magic/Flickr)

Fortunately, we have social media to turn to when we’re looking for advice to make things easier. The good citizens of Quora recently offered their wisdom on how to deal with the frustration of looking for a job. Here are few of the best tips in the bunch:

Do You Know What You're Worth?

1. Stay active in your field.

User Marti LaChance advises job seekers to keep their hand in, whether it’s by starting a consulting business or by volunteering.

“By staying active, you are still working. (It’s brilliant!) In this way, despite the rejection and hassles and stress of the job search, you are building concrete evidence that you are a smart, productive and valuable candidate,” LaChance says. “It’s not just psychological help. It’s practical help.”

2. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Bill Lee reminds us that it’s important not to deprive ourselves of basic comforts, even in times of financial stress. While we certainly don’t want to blow our unemployment checks on luxury items, Lee reminds us that the occasional inexpensive piece of chocolate goes a long way.

3. Don’t get bogged down in negative thoughts.

William Matthies advises us not to let our inner voice convince us that things are bad and getting worse. Remember that things can and will change, and that you can make things better.

4. Keep a job diary.

Set yourself a goal of applying to a specific, manageable number of jobs per day, advises Sajan Sadhwani, who finds that five applications a day is doable.

5. Talk to people who have your dream job.

Satvik Beri advises using LinkedIn to connect with people who have the job you think you want — and then contacting them to get their insight on their real life experience of doing that job.

Best-case scenario, you’ll learn that you’re right, and your dream job is a good fit, as well as getting some tips on how to score a position; worst-case scenario, you’ll cross something off your list and be able to move on to the next idea.

Tell Us What You Think

What do you do to deal with job search frustration? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
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Tarun
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Good tips Jen, also we should always feel positive about our abilities and capabilities and should not underestimate ourselves when unemployed. Keep motivating yourself that you gonna get your job pretty soon as God has planned something more meaningful for you.

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