More than 20 million people have lost their jobs due to COVID-19 leading to a massive increase in the supply of labor thereby causing job search burnout among many individuals. These days, the job search market has to be approached in an innovative manner. Gone are the days when you can limit your job search to applying for vacancies advertised.
Bear in mind, that some vacancies are advertised as a matter of protocol, i.e, the employer may already know who they want to hire but just put out advertisements to follow company policy.
It is for reasons like this that you must not feel down if you apply for a vacancy and find that your application was not even acknowledged.
The job search process is one that everyone has to go through. It can be daunting and frustrating, especially for those of us who are not connected per se. Technology has also had its ups and downs.
Whilst technology has opened the door to many new opportunities, it has also killed off many industries. These days, some industries would prefer to use an automated machine to get the job done for them rather than a person.
How To Fight Job-search Burn-out During A Pandemic?
1. Search social media regularly for opportunities
Check the regular websites such as Indeed and Monster.com regularly. Also, find out if there are any job advertising websites that are popular in your area.
Regularly check Facebook and LinkedIn for opportunities. A hack is to search the search bar for opportunities, for instance, if you are looking for a fitness trainer job, type in “fitness trainer job” in the search bar.
2. Upskill Yourself
One must always be thinking about their career progress and their next goal. You must also always aim to upskill.
You have to stand out from the crowd and also gain soft skills to put an end to your job search burnout. The COVID-19 crisis has impacted face to face learning opportunities and networking opportunities.
Technology has, however, created new avenues for opportunities that can be exploited. These days, you can bolster your skills online through YouTube or Udemy.
3. Learn a New Language
There are several benefits to learning a new foreign language. It can open several opportunities and career paths for you to earn money. For example, you could be a translator by working from home.
4. Stay in touch with your clients/colleagues
Planning and remaining calm is the key to navigating the job market these days. Staying in touch with your colleagues and clients can help you understand the current market situation better, and also help you to learn from their experiences.
People with physical jobs like personal trainers must be aware of their responsibilities and strive to reach out. Personal trainer responsibilities include but are not limited to keeping in contact with your clients and learning new things continuously.
- Due to these challenging times of COVID-19, the best way to keep in contact with clients is via email/social media or text messaging.
- Video calling will also allow you to keep up to date with their exercises and see that they are making progress for yourself.
- Some personal trainers have opted to conduct training sessions with their clients via video call.
It is important to show that you are interested in the progress and well-being of your clients. Try to build rapport with them beyond just being a business relationship. Fitness trainers build their base by getting good referrals from their clients.
That is why you need to be friendly and helpful to all your clients. Go out of your way to assist them and always live by the motto, “the client is always right,”. With that being said, do not allow a client to exploit you.
5. Internships or free work if you are just out of college
Due to a lack of experience, it is unlikely that a new graduate will get a high-profile job right away. There are some people who are exceptionally lucky but these people are the minority of the workforce in any field of work.
If you are a recent graduate- you should aim to use the first two years of your career as a learning experience and networking opportunity. It is unlikely that you will earn a big salary during these years.
Read here: Best Companies That Offer Internships For College Students
Offer your skills for free to companies that you want to work for. Also, use it as an opportunity to network with people from companies that you want to work for.
If you leave a good impression on people from companies that you want to work for, it will make a massive difference. They will likely bring up your name or alert you when a new opportunity becomes available within the company.
6. Learn from the successful people in your industry
In any field, one can develop by analyzing the qualities of those who set themselves apart from the rest. In any field, a love of the craft is the utmost important quality for success. A love for the work that you are doing will make learning and staying motivated much easier.
Try to network with successful personal trainers and analyze the way they do things. See what makes them stand out in the way that they conduct exercises and deal with clients. Try to emulate and even better their positive attributes.
7. Ensure that you get enough rest
Some opt to take a puritanical approach to work and aim to develop their careers- at the expense of having fun and enjoying leisure time. There is just so much time that the average person can concentrate and stay motivated.
Working all the time is unhealthy. You must make sure that you take time off your schedule to have fun. This can entail playing video games, having a night out with friends, or simply sitting on the shoreline of a beach and doing nothing.
Having fun once in a while will help you to stay focused. Do not overdo it though, some people get addicted to having fun and stop working which hampers productivity.
A good personal trainer never shies away from their opportunities. It can be a very rewarding job if you work hard. One of the best things about being a personal trainer is that there are no two days which are exactly the same.
Young people in the industry often leave when they realize that very few people achieve overnight success in the field. It is important to keep your spirits up at all times, remain positive, confident, and persistent in terms of looking for growth and your next career move!
Are you also under job search burnout? How do you cope with job search stress? If you got more tips, share it with us in the comments section below!
