Managing the Ups and Downs of the Executive Job Search

One of the things that will help you to develop a positive mindset about your executive job search is to start feeling more in control. You also need to face up to how frightened and angry you are if you are currently unemployed, especially in a challenging economy like this one.

You may also be dealing with feelings such as fear, anger, shock, disbelief, self-doubt, denial, betrayal, guilt, depression, shame, etc. over losing your executive job. First off, let me say that all of these responses are normal and common. Unfortunately, everybody goes through them at various times while looking for a new executive job. They are normal emotional stages everyone deals with.

Do not worry if at times you feel discouraged or emotionally out of control. Traditionally, when you’re unemployed, the five main emotions are anger or being mad, sadness, shame, fear, and gladness. (Why gladness? A lot of people are relieved to be free of the executive jobs they were unhappy in.)

Denial is also part of the game. One day you’ll find yourself feeling up and the next day down in the dumps. Your response to your situation is bound to be a roller coaster of emotional mood swings. Again, this is normal. You are not losing your mind!

The trick is to manage these emotions and compartmentalize them. This way, they do not paralyze you from taking action to regain control of your life and find a great executive job you can be excited about! The longer you allow these emotions to bring you down and paralyze you, the longer it will take you to land your ideal job.

Ironically, it is when you might be most discouraged with your executive job search progress that you most need your determination and confidence to come out of the situation. They are what will position you as a winner. I suggest you go to my blog, on the web site www.TheJobSearchExperts.com: “Sweet Job Advice.” In particular, read the December 15, 2010 entry, the bamboo story from Zig Ziglar.

This story drives home the important point that an executive job search is similar to growing a bamboo tree. Both a bamboo tree and a job search take a lot of preparation, feeding (your pipeline), and nurturing (follow through) before the fruits of your efforts are necessarily seen.

The key is to keep watering and taking care of your bamboo tree. Suddenly, after five years of not “growing,” your bamboo tree will grow 90 feet in one season! The same is true for your job search: Suddenly, after all your efforts, you will be rewarded with interviews and job offers.

It will not help your situation to continuously beat up on yourself, though we all have done so at one time or another. Being hard on ourselves is human nature in terms of how we cope with such situations.

If you find yourself going through a temporary phase of being completely overwhelmed with your executive job search, take some time off. You’ll need a break to get re-energized and shake off the negative thinking.

If you’re looking full time for an executive job, I suggest you take three hours off a week. Reward yourself by doing something that you normally would not have had the luxury of doing while you were working. It could be volunteering at your children’s school, meeting a friend for breakfast or lunch, etc.

Allow yourself an hour to walk outside the house. Another idea is to engage in some type of physical activity, such as a house maintenance project. (Your spouse will be pleased. Don’t forget that this period of instability is a particularly hard time for spouses as well.) Try to find some project you can easily control, complete, and witness visual results from.

I personally love gardening. I remember being depressed following the death of my mother. The day after the funeral, I felt overwhelmed. So I basically went out into the garden and the hillside and probably chopped down about 25 buckthorn trees. The physical labor and visual results helped me refocus and get re-energized.

If the weather is bad, you can also work inside the house, touching up some of the chipped paint or caulk or repainting a room, closet, basement, or garage.

*** The above material is an excerpt from my newest executive job search book, The NEW Rules of Job Search – How to Land an Executive Job in the New Economy, pages 25-27..

 

Bottom line is to take action steps with your executive job search every day. At the same time allow you a little down time to recharge.

I look forward to helping you land that next great executive job that you have been looking for during your executive job search!

Take care,

 

Eleanor

Eleanor Anne Sweet

Executive Job Search Expert Coach â„¢

 

PS

TODAY”S Executive Job Search Action Plan:

More information on Postive Headset and great tips for your job search: CLICK HERE

1. Register for my weekly executive job search tips on this page before you leave this page/blog, www.ExecutiveJobSearchExpert.com

2. Go to www.TheNEWRulesofJobSearch.com  to find out more about my newest job search book, The NEW Rules of Job Search – How to Land an Executive Job in the New Economy.

3. Go to www.TheJobSearchExperts.com to register for additional weekly executive job search information to help you with your executive job search and landing that next great job faster.

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