Untold Story - Deteriorating Mental Health During the Job Search Journey

As a career coach and job search mentor, I engage with hundreds of job seekers every month, listening to their job search stories. Through these interactions, I have identified certain patterns in their thinking and perception, prompting me to write this article.

Some individuals have been searching for jobs for over a year, while others are in the process of transitioning their careers and seeking new opportunities. Additionally, there are those who are looking to re-enter the job market after a career gap. Another group of people aims to switch jobs due to various reasons such as toxic work environments, poor work-life balance, lack of learning opportunities, unfavorable work culture, low salary, micromanagement, biased appraisals, and more. The current job market, characterized by limited opportunities and frequent layoffs, can be depressing and take a toll on the mental health of both job seekers and those currently employed.

The ‘Ideal’ Job-Search Journey

The ideal job-seeking process can be broken down into 9 stages:

1. Research: Conduct research and self-introspection to find roles that suit you.
2. CV Creation and Optimization: Work on your CV based on suggestions from mentors or the internet.
3. Interview Preparation: Prepare diligently for interviews.
4. Applying for Jobs / Seeking Referrals: Apply for jobs on various platforms and seek referrals from multiple people.
5. CV Shortlisting: Receive an interview call from your dream company.
6. Interviews: Engage with future colleagues and successfully clear the interview.
7. Negotiation: HR offers you ‘X’ amount and you say ‘X+Z’ and finally both agree on ‘X+Y’.
   
8. Job Offer: Receive the offer letter in your mailbox.
9. Acceptance of Job Offer: Conduct research and accept the offer letter. Congratulations!

 

The ‘Actual’ Job-Search Journey

Contrary to the ideal, the actual job-seeking process looks like this:

1. Research: Engage in research and self-introspection, often feeling confused about your future in the current job market.
2. CV Creation and Optimization: Experiment with different resume formats, changing them every ‘X’ days.
3. Interview Preparation: Despite hard preparation, confidence diminishes over time due to lack of interview calls or failed interviews.
4. Applying for Jobs / Seeking Referrals: Apply to over 50 jobs without receiving interview calls; outreach for referrals often goes unanswered.
5. CV Shortlisting: Receive one call from HR after a month, but subsequent communication is non-existent.
6. Interviews: Successfully clear all interview rounds, only to receive an email after 10 days stating the company found a better candidate, keeping your CV for the future.
7. Negotiation: HR offers ‘X’ amount; after negotiation, you have to agree on ‘X+ Delta X’ due to limited options.
8. Job Offer: Receive the offer letter and, upon reviewing terms and conditions and in-hand CTC, experience disappointment.
9. Acceptance of Job Offer: Accept the offer letter, only to receive an email 10 days before the joining date, stating a delay due to XYZ reasons.

This sounds familiar, right?

 

The Problem: Declining Mental Well-being

Across all stages of the job search, the mental health of a job-seeker deteriorates due to the reasons outlined above. Besides these reasons, other concerns continuously plague a job-seeker. Examples includes the following - 

• Family responsibilities
• Financial situations
• Career gaps
• Doubts about career transition decisions
• Peer and family pressure
• FOMO
• Inferiority complex
• Marriage pressure from parents/relatives
• Low salary

These examples make a job-seeker feel hopeless, filled with self-doubt and extremely low on confidence, eventually leading to various mental health issues.

 

The Solution

If you are a job-seeker reading this, always remember: nothing is more important than you. Life is full of uncertainties, so worrying, self-doubt, hopelessness, and constant complaining are not the solutions.

Most people I have talked to share a commonality - stress over things beyond their control. Issues like a challenging job market, HR responses, unresponsive emails, or lack of placement from enrolled institutes dominate their thoughts. Instead, focus on what you can control, such as identifying problems in your job search like issues in CV, portfolio, or skillset. If you are unable to identify any issues, talk to your mentors.

You might have heard from motivational speakers that you are here for a purpose. In my personal opinion and as per the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, your purpose is to unite with the divine. Focus on your duty, detach from the outcome, work with full devotion, and you will get what you deserve. Material possessions like a big house, fancy clothes, or a car won't make a significant difference. On social media, everyone showcases their best version; in reality, everyone faces difficulties. You are not alone.

Enjoy the job search journey, learn from mistakes, become a better version of yourself every day, and talk to people who can help you. Don’t get depressed and hopeless!

Please note that all views and suggestions in this article are the author's personal views.

 

About Author

Vibhanshu

Vibhanshu is currently serving as the Founder and Head of Data Science at TakeOff Talent. Additionally, he enjoys guiding and mentoring individuals throughout their job search journey. To date, he has assisted over 4000 individuals in their job search efforts. In case you need some kind of career guidance or mentorship, please check here.