3 Mantras to Stay Calm During a Job Search

Job transitions are incredibly stressful. They are so stressful that I often find myself telling clients to take a deep breath and relax when we start to work together. Their voices shake and the stress energy reverberates off of them. I can sense that they are not sure what to do, where to go, what to expect – so many unknowns make for a nervous temperament. I want to make them a cup of tea and hand them a soft blanket. Rub their hair and say in a soothing, motherly tone that everything will be okay in the end.

Since I’m generally on Skype and my clients are in far flung places (and it would be a little unconventional to be touching anyone in a professional context) I made a shortlist of mantras to help ease some of the common terrors that go along with a job transition.

Repeat after me….

I will get a job.

Some news journalist out there somewhere keeps writing that the job market is terrible, there are billions of unemployed people and everyone is living under a bridge. I wish they’d stop that. It instills panic and hopelessness in perfectly talented people who are looking for jobs. It is already difficult enough for someone to take a leap of faith – either by choice or by necessity – to find something without hype that the sky has fallen and all is lost.

It isn’t. You will find a job. Lots of companies are hiring and lots are looking for someone exactly like you. I promise. And you only need one job after all so the odds are in your favor. I just did a quick LinkedIn job search and there are 196,141 jobs posted there today. And that’s just LinkedIn.

I will get the right job.

A common fear is that when someone makes a decision to choose a job, that they may make a bad one and will end up trapped and miserable for the next 10 years. It’s like getting married (and some of us have admittedly made wrong choices in that area) so the panic of potentially choosing badly can flare up pretty powerfully.

Just let that one go. You will make the right decision. Trust yourself. Trust your ability to know what job and company are right for you. Trust that you will find the right home for yourself. Your new employer will welcome you with open arms and you will be wildly successful. Don’t let any irrational fears to the contrary get the better of you.

I will get the right job at the right time.

This mantra is designed to quell the anxiety related to timing of getting a new job quickly. This job search stuff seems to take for-ev-er.

First you have to job hunt on job boards and company career sites. And network to find good leads for you. Then you prep your resume and send in an application. Then wait. Then you get a call scheduled. Then wait. Then you see if they want to keep meeting with you again and again and again. And this can go on for weeks, sometimes months. Sorry for that. It’s a hassle. We can’t really rush things when a lot of people are involved so the only way to get through it is to be positive. Know that when the right job comes together, the timing will be perfect. Just as it should be.

So next time you are feeling nervous or fearful in your job search just take a deep breath and repeat after me…