This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Emily Worden, a career coach in Boston. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
I meet with maybe 10 new job seekers a week, and I’d say at least four or five of them cry during our first meeting.
Not only are they burned out, but they’ve been ghosted and rejected to the point that they start thinking, “It’s me. I’m not good enough, and I’m never going to find a job again.”
A year ago, I said we were in the worst job market I’d seen in my 10 years as a career coach. This year feels worse. It’s not just more people competing for fewer roles; job seekers are sifting through scams, creating personal brands, getting referrals, and going through six rounds of interviews, only to get ghosted.
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A lot of my clients tell me they wake up in the morning with the whole day ahead of them and want to make sure they’re making the most of it. The No. 1 thing they default to is brute-force applying to as many jobs as possible. But if you’re in a cycle of applying for eight hours straight with rejection after rejection, you’ll be burned out in a week.
That’s why I recommend a specific four-hour schedule for job seekers to avoid burnout and maximize opportunities.
Spend 1 or 2 hours on job applications, and don’t check emails first thing in the morning
When you first wake up, don’t grab your phone right away because you’re likely going to see rejection emails, and it’s going to set your mentality for the day. Instead, greet the day, stretch, drink water, and move your body.
Ideally, you’re getting job board alerts in the morning for jobs that match your requirements. I like niche job boards and even Google, which searches across all job boards. Once you start your search, if there are companies you really want to work for, bookmark their personal job boards so you can easily check them each day, too.
After checking your alerts, you can apply to jobs. If no jobs interest you that day, even better. That gives you an excuse to take more time off.
Sometimes people say they just want to apply for a job to feel like they’ve done something, but I feel like that’s a waste of time. If no jobs are speaking to you, I’d rather have you spend that time on other activities.
Dedicate 30 minutes to an hour each day to commenting on LinkedIn
I’m finding that recruiters are so overwhelmed with applicants that they’re going back to old-school sourcing and finding people on LinkedIn.
My advice is to search for topics on LinkedIn that interest you and are in your industry. If you’re in consumer goods, type “consumer goods” into the search bar. Find people who are writing about it and leave a thoughtful comment on their posts.
Take a leisurely break around lunchtime and then network for 1 to 2 hours
After a really productive morning, get some food in, move your body, play with your animals, and do whatever makes you feel happy.
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If you were an athlete training for a marathon, you’d have rest days and take breaks. Job seekers have to do the same thing. You’ll reenergize to get through the rest of your afternoon, which should consist of at least one to two hours of networking.
Hands down, networking is my favorite way to find a job. I find that many job seekers don’t like it, but it’s just as important as applying to jobs. Your afternoon of networking could look like researching people to contact, sending out messages, going for coffee chats, or reaching out to old coworkers.
Close the computer and walk away without guilt
Your job for the rest of the day is to engage in activities that fill your cup.
I’ve found volunteering to be amazing for my clients because it gives them a sense of community, helps them meet like-minded, generous people, and makes them feel productive. So I say volunteer, exercise, meet friends, work on your hobby, cook your favorite dinner, jam out to your favorite songs, or play guitar for three hours.
Each day is going to fluctuate depending on whether you see more jobs you like or if you have some more networking to do, but that shouldn’t take eight hours.
More is not always better
If a job alert comes in the afternoon for something that really excites you, go jump on that, but remember that doing more is not always better.
I get why people feel they should push through on applications for jobs they don’t even really want. If you’re worried about paying bills and everyone’s breathing down your neck, you want to be able to say, “Look, I applied to 10 jobs today. I’m doing what I can.” However, I really don’t like the word should: it implies guilt.
If you’re doing the same thing over and over and not getting the results that you want, switch up the tactic. Give yourself permission to take a break and refill your cup.
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