How do you job search without being overwhelmed?
If you’re on notice that you may be laid off or are, in fact, let go, the worst thing to do is panic and then start implementing a poorly thought-out plan.
Manage Your Overwhelm with Care
When you notice you’re reacting – you’re panicking or angry – turn your self-awareness on by acknowledging your feelings and taking care of yourself first.
(See the resource below on how to do this.)
Once you’ve helped yourself by attending to your needs, it’s time to develop clarity to implement your next strategic action for your job search.
Skip this step, and it will lead to mistakes, overwhelm and despair.
Develop Clarity
There are 3 areas to develop clarity to reduce anxiety as you search for a job.
Self-preservation tip: This journey can be scary because you can’t avoid the answers.
As you follow the steps below, be gentle with yourself.
Pause to take a walk. Or, do an activity like swimming or painting that shifts your complete attention to the present before going back to this work. Help yourself move through being triggered to present and calm.
1. Financial Clarity
Review your finances.
Ask yourself:
- What are your monthly expenses and savings?
- How much do you currently have and how much do you need for the year?
2. Life & Career Clarity
This is the time to reflect, “Ideally, what do I want from my next job?”
More money? A work environment that makes you feel valued for your contributions? A job where your employer invests in your career pathway?
Name the ideal for now; don’t worry just yet about what’s practical. We’ll get to that.
3. Strengths Clarity
Imposter syndrome is real.
You can make it disappear and replace it with genuine confidence.
How?
By being able to identify a specific strength you have and being able to explain why it’s a strength.
Spending time to name a strength and how this strength has led to results for the organization you worked for, as well as how the results have specifically benefited people or projects, does two things:
1) It proves that you have the experience, which develops genuine confidence.
2) It gives you the words to succinctly market yourself naturally and successfully in conversations with potential employers.
Practice Curiosity
Once you know what you want in a job, your primary strength, and what is needed for financial stability, you can start the job search.
Companies are willing to pay for your skills and experience with a salary that meets your wants and needs.
Look within international development and humanitarian aid sectors, but don’t dismiss other sectors.
They need the experience you have!
Get curious about the language they use to describe what you do.
If you decide to apply for jobs outside your field but one that is a similar role to what you have done, change your vocabulary.
The letters “DEI” or “humanitarian aid” may be gone from job descriptions, but there is still a need to address workplace toxicity, humanitarian crises and more.
How do other sectors describe the work you do?
Replace the words used to describe what you do with their keywords to keep their eyes on your application.
Being Realistic AND Honouring Your Values
What if you could get close to the ideal job you wanted? It’s possible.
Ask yourself the following questions when looking at job posts:
- What is it about a job description that makes it worthwhile to apply to?
- What are the deal-breakers?
- What am I willing to compromise on based on my financial needs, my values, and the strengths I have to offer?
Let the answers guide you in making the right decisions to apply for and get the job you really want.
Remember, before you work on clarity take time to self-regulate.
Read these posts for practical steps to help you move through difficult emotions: Survival Skills for Regressive Times, Resilience Defined, and Who’s Taking Care of You?
A nod of respect from me to you.
You are taking the time and investing your energy in something worthwhile:
To be empowered to make a difference.
Career Coaching Options
Mini-Course to Get The Job You Want.
For step-by-step guidance on how to make your CV stand-out AND eliminate your imposter syndrome, sign-up here for my mini-course: 3 Answers You Need to Get the Job You Want. It’s $35 CAD including taxes and it’s self-paced.
Clarity-in-Crisis – Coaching Session
If you’re looking for help developing clarity on what to do in a world where your career is on the line and you’ve only ever worked in humanitarian aid and international development, sign up for my 50% off career coaching session. This session is only for people who have not paid for my services before. Register here.
6-Session Career Coaching
Learn more about this package here.
Learn more about my approach through testimonials from my clients.