Trying to find your first graduate job can be extremely difficult. In fact, it can feel like a full-time job in itself. Staying motivated when it feels like you are sending out application after application for several weeks or months is vital to ensuring that you are sending out high-quality applications, proactively seeking out opportunities and crucially maintaining a positive mindset towards yourself and your future.
At the beginning of your job search, you are much more likely to feel motivated. After all, it is exciting! Armed with your degree and fuelled by ambition sending out your first few applications feels like an achievement and a positive step towards landing your dream job, however, if those applications prove to not be fruitful or you receive rejections after your interviews, levels of motivation can decline over time and have an impact on your confidence and self-esteem. Here at Graduate Coach, we know this story extremely well. We’ve helped over 5000 graduates to land their first graduate-level jobs. Before finding us, many of them endure months of receiving rejections or failed interviews. In this post, we share top tips on how to stay motivated during your job search.
Why is it important to stay motivated during your graduate job search?
The graduate job search is an uncertain period. This uncertainty can feel stressful and very challenging at times. However, it is a special time in a recent graduate’s life filled with potential opportunities. What you do in this period of your life could have a significant impact on your career trajectory and your earning potential. Staying motivated can help you to proactively seek out opportunities for yourself, develop your skills and learn more about what you want to achieve during your early career and beyond.
Here are some additional reasons why it is important to stay motivated during your job search.
1. It enhances your resilience
Having a high level of motivation essentially acts as a buffer against the inevitable rejections you will face along your journey of finding a graduate job. By staying motivated you’re most likely to persist during difficult times, learn from your experiences and keep adapting in the face of new information. Resilience built in this time will not only serve you in your graduate job search but also in your graduate job and beyond.
2. It fosters continuous learning and growth
A motivated graduate is more inclined to seek out learning opportunities, networking opportunities and take feedback onboard positively. These activities will increase your visibility in the job market, open up new opportunities and help you to gain insights and advice from professionals that will stick with you throughout your career. Think of it this way – you can use your job search period to land a job or you can use your job search period to land a job, build a professional network, establish yourself as a professional, develop new skills, start a side hustle and set yourself up for success. The difference between the two boils down to motivation.
3. Motivation improves your productivity and focus
Motivation fuels your drive to keep applying, networking, and improving your job search strategy and skills. A highly motivated graduate will set and achieve daily and weekly goals such as tailoring their CV, crafting cover letters, tracking their applications and preparing for interviews properly.
4. Being motivated during your job search helps to maintain your wellbeing
Motivation keeps you focused not only on your short-term goal of getting a graduate job but also on your longer-term goals. This focus on longer-term goals helps you to take a balanced approach to your job search. It will help you to focus on your health and well-being because ultimately your health and well-being are foundational to achieving any goal in life.
5. Motivation helps you to find better job matches
If you allow your motivation to decline during your graduate job search you are more likely to not seek out opportunities that are truly a good fit for you. You may settle for any job to conclude your job search as soon as possible. Staying motivated on the other hand will help you find opportunities that are a good match resulting in much better outcomes.
How to Stay Motivated During Your Graduate Job Search
Here are some of the best tips for staying motivated during your graduate job search:
1: Set Goals Strategically
The key to sustaining motivation during your job search is setting the right goals and targets. Your goal should not be to simply get a graduate job. Rather than applying to every job under the sun, focus on opportunities that genuinely align with your skills and aspirations. Quality over quantity reigns supreme here. Set weekly goals for applications and networking efforts, and celebrate small victories, like securing an interview or receiving positive feedback. These milestones, however small, are proof of your progress and can be incredibly motivating.
2: Create Routine
As mentioned above, searching for a graduate job should be treated like a full-time job in itself. Dedicate hours of the day to searching and applying for jobs, tailoring applications, tracking your applications and feedback, preparing for interviews, networking and developing your skills. This doesn’t mean chaining yourself to your desk all day; balance is crucial. Allocate time for breaks, exercise, and hobbies. A well-rounded routine prevents burnout and keeps your energy levels up.
3. Stay connected
Remember, you are not alone during this journey. Thousands of other graduates are in the exact same boat.
Engage with friends, family, and professional contacts. Share your experiences, seek advice, and listen to their job search stories.
Sometimes, just knowing others have navigated similar paths can be comforting. Additionally, attending industry meetups, online forums, and webinars can expand your network and provide valuable insights into your desired field. Don’t isolate yourself.
4. Embrace learning and development
Now that your formal studies are over and you are looking for a job, you have some time to dedicate to building up your skills which will make you more employable. Use this wisely for your development, take free online courses and learn practical skills. These achievements will help you to stay motivated.
Each application and interview, regardless of the outcome, is a learning opportunity. Solicit feedback from employers when possible, and reflect on what went well and what could be improved. Use this feedback to refine your approach.
5: Stay positive
Maintaining a positive outlook is definitely easier said than done, especially after a rejection. However, positivity is an incredibly powerful tool.
Remember, rejections from graduate job applications or interviews is not a reflection of your worth or value but rather a step towards the right opportunity. Sometimes, you are simply not the best candidate for that particular opportunity and that’s ok!
Surround yourself with positivity, whether through uplifting podcasts, motivational books, or inspiring talks. A positive mindset will keep you resilient in the face of setbacks.
6: Remember your ‘Why’
When motivation wanes, remind yourself why you embarked on this journey. Think back to your days at university when you stayed in the library all night to get an assignment submitted on time and how you felt once it was handed in.
Remember how proud you felt on your graduation day. Now think about your ‘Why’ What do you want to achieve with your career? This reason will be unique to you but will keep you motivated. Whether it’s the desire to work in a field you’re passionate about, the ambition to make an impact, or the dream of building a rewarding career, your ‘why’ is your anchor. Keep it at the forefront of your mind, especially during challenging times.
7: Get a Graduate Coach
Getting a graduate coach will help you to discover your career path, which will help you to achieve achievable career goals and follow a focused plan to search, apply and secure your dream job. Here at Graduate Coach, our programmes designed to help you to turn your degree into a career will help you to stay motivated and hold you accountable to achieving your goals.
Conclusion
The graduate job search is undeniably challenging. However, it is a time of immense growth and opportunity. Maintaining high levels of motivation during this time will determine how much you gain from your job search. With motivation, you can conclude your graduate job search much sooner with a good graduate job and a strong network, refined employability skills, clarity of your career goals and much more. If you need help finding your graduate job, get in touch with us here at Graduate Coach via our contact form. We will let you know how we can help you to get your dream job and thrive in your career.
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