I am burned-out on Jobsearching...

[FirstLight]

Been looking for a while now, and I am just so OVER it I can't even bring myself to look or submit a resume or anything today.

Have I turned into one of those apathetic poor people who would rather collect their check and be lazy?
no

Just finding it hard to be excited about anything today I suppose...maybe i'll take the day 'off' and just take a walk or clean house.
I don't *want* to be depressed...just tired of trying and not even getting any bites...

Blah!

[TexasObserver]

1. You're allowed! Good luck.

Take a few days to think about the goods things you have in life, and get back into when you can face it.

[HopeHoops]

2. You need to crank up some classic rock and play air guitar.

That fixes most such feelings. It won't help with the job search, and probably will slow down the housework a bit, but as far as therapy is concerned there's nothing better!

FREEBIRD!!!

[tridim]

11. I actually started learning guitar as therapy during my search

Still jobless, but at least I can play the blues now. :)

[HopeHoops]

16. Nice thing about the guitar - you don't need an expensive one to play the blues.

[EFerrari]

3. In a lot of cases, that isn't apathy, it's trauma. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

4. +100

[Warpy]

5. Mental health days are important

Now get the hell out there and take a walk, find some ducks or pigeons to feed, smell the fall air, get some of the last sun of the season.

Remember, you can't force stuff like this. If there's a job with your name on it, it'll be there tomorrow, too. If not, there's nothing you can do about it today.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. Consider it treating yourself to a vacation.

VERY important to give yourself a break!

[Ian David]

7. You could try my method.

1) Rent a mailing list of 500 companies that meet your search criteria.
2) Use a fax modem to send your cover letter and resume to all 500 companies.
3) Purge and update your mailing list based on which faxes are able to be delivered.
4) Hire a service bureau to print, sign, stuff, stamp and mail your entire run of resumes and cover letters.
5) Update your mailing list based on which letters come back non-deliverable.
6) Purchase Google AdWords targeted to the companies you want to be hired by. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/14/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main6483552.shtml

[Canuckistanian]

8. "Rent", Hire", "Purchase"

Don't these things require, um, money?

I know when I was out of work, I panicked when I needed to buy an ink cartridge for my printer.

[Ian David]

9. It helps if you do it the first week after you're fired or laid-off.

Or, as I've done it, the day you give your two-week notice.

The Google AdWord method only costs $6 though.

The mailing list was something like $20 at the time.

The expensive part was the service bureau, but if you're still working full-time and trying to find somewhere else to go, it's really worth it. Otherwise, you spend some of your severance pay and concentrate on managing and researching your job campaign instead of stuffing envelopes.

[uncommon]

12. That was really interesting.

Seems like it would work well for someone in advertising or pr or something like that - it shows a certain skill set.

But like the poster above commented, it would cost money and would only be a really viable option for someone who wasn't to the point of clinging desperately to every last dollar.

[Ian David]

21. Very true. Works very well for someone clinging to their last bit of sanity or with little time.

[raccoon]

10. I feel your pain. BTDT. You deserve a break today. (did somebody say that, LOL.)

Do something you enjoy--take a walk and enjoy nature, watch a DVD you enjoy, etc. :hug:

[The Northerner]

13. I couldn't agree more

and I'm sure that my unemployed uncle who has a bachelors in psychology would feel the same way.

It seems to be getting ever more difficult to find a job in this environment.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hfojvt]

15. that's just the way it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1NAGhiVqdg

[Fresh_Start]

17. Don't know where you live so can't offer concrete help

in our area, a number of churches are running programs to help match unemployed with employers.
And when they are not having job fairs, they have speakers and the job seekers assist each other with resume reviews and interview coaching and "leads"....

even if you don't know someone at a target company, its possible that someone else in the group can provide an introduction.

Good luck and keep your spirits up: its not you, its the entire sucky environment.

[Zanzobar]

18. Don't stop looking. That is all.

[FirstLight]

19. hey guys

so it's thunderstorming and cold and so i crawled back under the covers to hide from reality for a while...

and my dreams were all about the futility of it all!
I was back in the east bay, trying to get to a job interview in Berkeley and then get to school in Hayward... my car was lost in montclair (the oakland hills) for some reason...and i was trying to get there on foot, till my arthritis made it impossible to walk and then i was in a weird wheelchair, pushing pushingpushing...stopping in places that were full of people young & old, trying to help find things that weren't there, getting a call from a friend and offering to pick him up on my way back, when i can't even find my car, ending up asking someone to give me a ride and them not speaking the language, and finally getting to the Chabot College campus, only to realize i haven't gone there in 20 years and i missed the test i was supposed to take...


maybe it's telling me something...maybe my life really *is* an exercise in futility :shrug:

or maybe I am just messed up in the head! :hide: :rofl:

.....ya, it's time to turn the music up and dance!

[Lost4words]

20. I'll say, ...nt

[DCBob]

22. Take a break.. forget about it for awhile and reenergize..

Often our best ideas and opportunities come from out of nowhere and totally unexpected. Good luck... I think you deserve it.

[Freetradesucks]

23. I feel ya.

nt

[wickerwoman]

24. Hang in there!

I try to stay focused on the things that are in my control. Make a nice meal for yourself, sit in the park and feed pigeons, give yourself permission to do something you enjoy. You are not defined by your job, nor should you feel like you have to account for your time to anyone.

A few weeks back I got two interviews out of the blue (after seventeen months without a single interview offer)- one for a company I'd applied for four months before and one for a company I'd applied with three years before. Not sure anecdotes are any real comfort not knowing your industry or where you live, but I've heard from a few people who've been out of work more than a year that they are finally starting to get some interviews here and there.

Can't get any worse, eh? So it's got to get better.

[uppityperson]

25. Hang in there, it can be difficult, best wishes to you

it is ok to take a vacation day, a mental health day.

[Habibi]

26. I like this lady:

http://www.asklizryan.com/

You can join her Yahoo group and get hooked up with a community of folks also looking for work. Liz seems to be a pretty caring, savvy job search coach who gives out a lot of free advice and encouragement (in addition to selling resume and coach services).

I've been getting by on project work lately but if that dries up I'll probably use some of her job search techniques--they sound empowering.

[Kat45]

27. I'm in the same situation and feeling the same way.

I hardly even see an ad for an appropriate job, and when I do see one, I often don't even bother sending a resume because I assume they won't call me because I don't have 110% of what they're looking for. The last straw that got me even more discouraged than I had been was when I didn't even get interviews for the type of job I've had more than once (that I always got interviews for) because they just got so many great resumes. They send auto emails letting me know I didn't get the job, one saying they got almost 60 applications and the other saying they got more resumes than they have in the last 10 years!