Looking for a job in a depressed economy and  living with a chronic illness that  makes your employment history a bit “sketchy”.

Yikes, it doesn’t sound pretty.  But at the moment, that describes many of my clients.  Not surprising, is it?   Ten years ago, a robust, growing economy made it much easier for anyone – even with disabling symptoms –  to find a job.   But that’s not now.

As one person confided recently,  “The good news is that when I go to networking events,  so many are in this sinking boat with me .  At least I don’t feel like it’s just me and must be my fault.”   Cold comfort.

How do you keep the job search going when all you hear is how bad it is?   How do you force yourself out of bed each day, especially  if your body is in pain or a state of extreme fatigue?

On a recent call, L started by  setting “desired outcomes” for our meeting,  as we always do.   She wondered how to stay motivated when she keeps hitting stone walls in her  job search.  She spinning – – feeling hopeful with a new lead and then, realizing it’s going nowhere,  losing heart.

For a brief moment, I was right there with her and felt her fear.   But then I realized that we could break this overwhelm feeling into pieces she could hold onto and manage.  As we discussed it, we both realized that a project management approach would help her stay  away from distracting emotions and  keep her on point.

Four questions to frame the “finding a job” project:

1. What do I want to achieve? Just like with any project, you have to be able to define your desired outcomes.   Describe the kind of job AND what it would do for you so you can remember why this is so important.
2. Why do I believe this is possible? Identifying this helps you stay motivated and focused.  Even if your first response is to say, “I don’t”, that’s just not true.  Some part of you believes . Dig deep and find it.
3. How long can I realistically give this? It’s easy to spend some time every day worrying that since this hasn’t happened, it will never happen.  That’s a waste of your time and energy.  Create a realistic time frame and don’t let yourself look back until you’ve reached it.
4. What will it take to get there? This is the specifics. Create a list of activities, including people to meet, places to go, ideas to research.  Then put some kind of time frame to it.  Put it on a big white board -and check off when you’ve done something so you can see how much you’ve done!

Now, for the tactics.   How to keep going every day in the face of rejection or even worse, no possibilities?

1. Start every day with one thing that makes you feel good.  A delicious cup of coffee,  a walk , read the newspaper.  Something that you look forward to and helps you get out of bed.
2. Next, do one productive thing.  It doesn’t have to be work related but it has to yield tangible results.  It could be washing the bathroom floor, planting some flowers,  writing a note to a sick friend.  This gets your  juices moving.
3. Now, look at your activities list and give yourself 3 things to do that day to move your job search along.

I’d like to know what helps you?  Are there things you’ve done that keep you motivated?

If you find this helpful, there are more suggestions like this regarding looking for work in the Working With Chronic Illness Workbook on my website.   You don’t have to be a passive rider on the roller coaster of job hunting.