This Weekly Activity Will Give Your Job Search a Boost

This Weekly Activity Will Give Your Job Search a Boost Looking for a new job can be one of the most stressful experiences in life. It is made even more stressful when you do not have a job. It is also hard to tell exactly what you have accomplished throughout the week when you are still unemployed as the weekend rolls around. This post will give you advice on a weekly activity that is sure to give your job search a boost.Most importantly, this activity will help you avoid becoming discouraged. A common way in which job seekers hurt themselves during a job search is the disappointment from a previous interview spills over into the next job interview. Usually, the expectation of failure and nothing being accomplished breeds negative results. And all of this could have been avoided with this weekly activity.The Weekly Activity That Gives Your Job Search a BoostIt is so simple you may kick yourself when you read the next sentence.Keep track of your accomplishments - big or smallOne of the worst feelings to experience during a job search is w hen you finish out the week feeling like you have done nothing. That may be what you are “feeling” but only because you did not keep track of what really happened.For example, imagine you have an interview on Monday and it did not go so well. You block the interview out of your mind as “lost”. Meanwhile, you forget to keep track of the people you met and ideas you had during the interview. You forget key networking possibilities because you did not keep track of your accomplishments.Big AccomplishmentsThe biggest accomplishment of all would be for you to get hired. But depending on the job it can take as little as three hours to get hired or as long as four months.Until then, keep track of some of your big accomplishments such as:Interviews that went well and the number of interviews you had Who you met during the interview What you did well in the interview Why you got the job interview in the first place What kind of companies you have been interviewing withSometimes, espe cially when you get in a bad mood about the outcome of job interviews it is easy to take the extreme point of view, “I failed and that made everything I did wrong.” Thinking this way negates everything you did that was right because of one minor misstep. Your big accomplishments get lost.Small AccomplishmentsSmall accomplishments in a job search can include:Personal discoveries about jobs you thought you wanted Ways you saved money while job searching Ideas that came to you during the interview process People you connected with on LinkedIn because of the interview Certain lessons you learned about resumes, interviews, or how you should dressUltimately, you may be achieving more than you realize but you are not keeping track of it. As your job search continues and the need to stay motivated intensifies, you will need to look at your accomplishments to remind yourself, “I am doing what I should be doing. And I will be successful.”How to Track Your AccomplishmentsA great way to track your accomplishments is to categorize them. For example:Setting an interview goal for 30-daysWhat is your reward when you meet that goal?Amount of times you received feedbackWhat was the feedback?Amount of interviews you felt you handled with confidenceWhy did you feel confident?Amount of times you impressed hiring managers with your answersWhat questions do you answer better than others?Amount of times you learned something new about yourselfWhat did you learn exactly?Amount of times you felt proud after an interviewWhat were you most proud of?At the end of the day, the importance of doing this is to make sure you keep reminding yourself that you are achieving things. You are growing, hacking away at all the unnecessary things you worry aboutand you are becoming skilled at describing your value through critical thinking.Finally, the better you get at tracking your accomplishments the more you start to understand what makes you valuable to a company!