How To Maintain Your Focus While Hunting For Full-Time Jobs

How To Maintain Your Focus While Hunting For Full-Time Jobs

At a time when so many are out of work at home and around the globe, the daily job hunt grind can get frustrating very quickly. Whether you’re looking for sales jobs, media jobs, social worker or engineer jobs, it’s essential that you maintain your focus during your job search.

Some say that finding full-time jobs or part-time jobs is as much a job as having one, only you’re not getting paid for the work, effort or time that you put into the process. Nonetheless, the hunt is essential to eventual success in securing a new role for yourself and making a decent livelihood, so it’s critical that you’re able to maintain your focus and steadily work at getting that illusive new gig no matter how long it may take.

Finding a new job can take quite some time in even the best economic environments, but finding a new job when unemployment is high, as it is right now, can take months. There are some who have been out of work for a year or more who are still plugging away at the job hunt each and every day, because they have no other choice, and neither do you!

You need that new position and must find ways to keep yourself motivated and moving in a positive direction, regardless of how long the process takes.

Here are a few ways to maintain your focus when hunting for full-time jobs in a down economy.

Vary Your Job Hunting Activities

It’s centrally important when you search for jobs, especially when you’re hunting for a new position for months on end, to vary your activities. One of the fastest ways to lose hope in a job search, especially during a down economy, is to only look at a single source or investigate job openings in just one location.

If you get up every morning and immediately log on to the same Internet job site, you’ll exhaust your search in less than an hour or two. No matter how many new jobs may have been posted, you’ll plow through those listings in no time flat and likely feel as though your world is coming to an end when you find the last position in your career field posted to the site since the last time you visited.

Shake up your search activities by consulting new resources each and every day. While you may visit the major job websites, remember that thousands of other job hunters are doing the same every day. Increase your chances of finding a new position by spreading your efforts around. Consult the smaller and less obvious locations in which jobs may be advertised. Tap into the listings with career-focused or industry-specific sources like professional organizations and trade or industrial societies.

Don’t forget job openings are commonly listed on college and university career office websites and the job boards hosted by your home state workforce development department or local unemployment office.

Remember to check out print media publications and corresponding websites. Look at the sites for trade magazines and other publications in your field as well. Remember that in many cases, the printed copies of newspapers and magazines may contain different job listings than the Internet versions do, and vice versa, so it can be helpful to search in both locations.

Tap Into Your Social Networks

Take advantage of your real world and virtual social networks by putting the feelers out there periodically among your contacts about new work leads. Friend, family and even acquaintances, like your pharmacist, social worker, or vet are often more than happy to keep their eyes peeled and ears to the ground for you.

They can even offer you part-time jobs when you’re still looking for full-time employment.

Get Out Of The House

Being stuck in the house all the time when unemployed is a death sentence for job hunting motivation. While you may be able to maintain that lifestyle for awhile, where you get up every day and look for work on the Internet, you’ll eventually get stir crazy and feel like you’re never going to punch that time clock again.

Get out of the house at least a couple times a week. While it may be for non-job hunting related activities, it is still essential. Also keep in mind that there are plenty of ways in which to incorporate outings into your job hunting activities.

Go to the library to do your daily job searching and resume or CV submission processes. It’s an excellent place for thumbing through professional journals, trade magazines and other print sources for job ads, as well.

Spend one day a week dropping off resumes at various businesses and visiting employment agencies or job fairs in your vicinity. There are several media jobs offered in your local advertising agency, TV station, and publication. Engineer jobs are also available in construction firms while sales jobs are just about everywhere from fast food chains to supermarkets.

If you’re worried about spending money when you search for jobs, remember that under current tax law you can deduct many job search expenses on your income tax return.

Take Time Off From The Job Of Job Hunting

Just like avoiding burn out on the job means taking time off for weekends, holidays and the occasional vacation, give yourself a break from the job hunt too. It will do wonders for keeping you motivated and focused when you return to the search.