I’m an advocate of getting through depression in the job search. I guess you could say I’m a Type A guy, and being out of control really stinks. I wasn’t used to having no control, which is where I was in my job search.
My most-commented post on the JibberJobber blog was titled Depression Clouds Everything, where I talk about what happened to my inability to remember and reason during my job search. It was not fun.
I’m not going to pretend that job search depression is something you can just “get over” or “get through,” but I think in many cases there are tactical things we can do to help us. Sometimes we simply need to visit a doctor and get medical help, but other times we might be able to work through it.
Yesterday on my JibberJobber blog I wrote a post about one of those tactics. It has to do with creating a job journal, or listing your past accomplishments. There is a methodology to this, of course. One comment to a previous post said that once she sat down and listed out her accomplishments, with the formula, it changed so much of what she was doing.
It sounded like it changed her entire job search. This phrase sticks out:
“… it completely changed my approach.”
Do you feel like your job search strategy needs a complete change?
I suggested yesterday that you take the entire day off and just work on your accomplishments. Seriously – stop spinning wheels and do that one thing.
Here’s another comment, this time from Donna:
Another benefit of working hard on the PARs: you’ll do better in interviews, screenings and other human interactions. As you get clear about the problems, actions, results and the skills you relied upon, you internalize them and they clearly and naturally come out of your mouth during an interview. I have been amazed listening to myself! It also helps you guide the interview conversation in a direction you want it to go.
Isn’t that something that merits your time?
