I kicked off my professional 2022 with a clear goal – find a new job. For the first time in my life, I was not forced to quit, like when we were moving to Canada, and I had to leave my beloved language centre, colleagues, and students behind. Instead, I decided to quit the job I liked, the job I knew from A to Z, the job that connected me with amazing people. My palms were sweating when I was sending my notice to the boss who had taken a chance on me. Who trusted me. Still, there were reasons for me to quit. I couldn’t keep up with speed and volumes anymore, and I noticed that my mental health was affected.
Diving into a job search again, with the previous one being challenging, was a major undertaking on its own. When I was searching for my first job in Canada back in 2019, I knew nothing about the labour market and its rules, how I should approach it, and how to make my resume convincing enough to get a callback. Back then, I sent out dozens of applications to get zero replies. I got a couple of interviews for shady positions where I was supposed to lie to people and got involved in an identity theft scam. I was getting more frustrated, stressed, and hopeless with every email from Indeed saying that the position I had applied for was closed.
This time, I had a different approach. I knew what I wanted, had a better understanding of how the market worked and was ready to put effort into the process without hoping for fast results. So, here are the five simple steps that I took to stay calm and control the process.
- I created a table (I used Notion, but anything from a paper notebook to Excel will work) where I had the following columns:
- Position,
- Company name,
- Application date,
- Response (yes, no, empty) and the date I heard back,
- Follow-ups (if any).
Every time I felt how all my hard work of crafting resumes for each position was going in vain, I opened that table, looked at the number, and it was a surprisingly soothing feeling, no matter if it was 7 or 23. The total number I got to was 40. Besides, I have a clear timeline now: it took me six weeks to find a new dream job.
- I tricked my brain into being grateful for “thank you for your interest, we decided to move forward with another candidate” emails. They allowed me to select the “no” option in my response column, not letting me float in limbo. Shoutout to recruiters who personalize those emails and encourage candidates to keep searching for their dream jobs!
- I took a lot of time reviewing each job posting, thinking, “Is this what I want to do?” Basically, I listened carefully to what my small inner Content Writer wanted and looked at how the position goals and responsibilities aligned with my professional compass. When I was looking through a job posting, I asked myself, “well, I can do that, but do I want to?” And if I felt hesitation or resistance, I kept scrolling.
- I didn’t let the first excitement power the way I made decisions. Searching for a job is hard. Searching for a job you’ll love is arduous and emotionally demanding. After the first recruiter reached out to me, I rushed to my husband, jumping around like a three-year-old who had too much sugar before bedtime. Then, at about the same time, two companies got back to me with the first screening calls and set up interviews with my potential managers. Let’s say that there was company A, which seemed a bit less exciting based on the job description and the information on the website, and company B, which had a very detailed job posting that promised a rewarding career. During the interviews with real people, when I got a chance to ask questions, it turned out that I felt matched with one company, and the other felt more and more disconnected with every further step. You already know which company I felt more aligned with, right? Company A. Although I was excited about the description and initial conversations with company B, later on, I could feel that it wasn’t the right fit for me, and I wasn’t the right fit for them.
- Finally, although job hunting has its highs and lows, I was a steady believer that I was the professional who deserved the positions I was applying for. I’m sure that the number of people who fight with imposter syndrome every day is unfathomable, but it shouldn’t limit your opportunities.
Overall, “keep calm and carry on” is the best advice for job seekers, but the whole process becomes more inspiring when backed up with step-by-step routines. To everyone trying to ride the waves of the job market – good luck! I wish you to receive an email with this subject line as soon as possible:
