Ask HN: How do you avoid job hunting burnout?
I've been applying for hundreds of jobs for the past few months without any offers. I did 7 interviews for one company to end up with a rejection. A few virtual loop interviews just to be ghosted. Most applications I don't even get a resume screen rejection email. This seriously sucks and has made my depression as well as anxiety go up. How do y'all deal with job hunting burnout?
15 comments
Being out of work is very stressful. It is important to keep up your emotions.
1) Set up a schedule. Do not doom scroll jobs. Limit searching to 2 to 3 hours MAX a day.
2) Get exercise. A regular scheduled DAILY is best.
3) Study / learn something. Ideally have a theme or plan. It is useful for the interview question of 'So what have you been doing the last 6 months'. Yes looking for a job, but they want to hear you are doing something.
4) Reach out to see if there are job hunting club in your area. They could help identify something you might be doing wrong. 'Well I think a hawaiian shirt is my favorite' :)
4 b) if you know others looking, set up a weekly meeting to encourage each other and provide a sense of stability.
5) Join toastmasters. Trust me on this, it will help immensely in the interview.
6) Make an itemized list of what your job requirements are. What are you not willing to compromise on.
6 b) after 3 months, look at that list and decide what needs to go. It broke my heart to move, but it was what I had to do.
7) Volunteer. Preferably in person as it is a GREAT way to network. If you are a techie, you could do some opensource project, but volunteering still in person is much better.
1) Set up a schedule. Do not doom scroll jobs. Limit searching to 2 to 3 hours MAX a day.
2) Get exercise. A regular scheduled DAILY is best.
3) Study / learn something. Ideally have a theme or plan. It is useful for the interview question of 'So what have you been doing the last 6 months'. Yes looking for a job, but they want to hear you are doing something.
4) Reach out to see if there are job hunting club in your area. They could help identify something you might be doing wrong. 'Well I think a hawaiian shirt is my favorite' :)
4 b) if you know others looking, set up a weekly meeting to encourage each other and provide a sense of stability.
5) Join toastmasters. Trust me on this, it will help immensely in the interview.
6) Make an itemized list of what your job requirements are. What are you not willing to compromise on.
6 b) after 3 months, look at that list and decide what needs to go. It broke my heart to move, but it was what I had to do.
7) Volunteer. Preferably in person as it is a GREAT way to network. If you are a techie, you could do some opensource project, but volunteering still in person is much better.
I started a job hunt support standup group.
I asked around in various tech communities I was already apart of for other job seekers who were interested. Once I had a small group, we picked a time we were all free to do a video call standup. I think it was twice a week.
We’d do the usual “what we completed, what’s in progress, what we’re doing next”, then people could stay on the call to chat.
We ended up giving each other mock interviews, making connections, and doing resume reviews outside of the standup. Having the support of other people going through a similar experience was very helpful, and the accountability helped keep me motivated.
It was easy to set up. If people got annoyed about something like wanting to join but having a schedule conflict, or not liking the format the group wanted, I cheerfully said that’s a great idea, and suggested they start a new group. Setting that limit got rid of a lot of the annoying parts of organizing events. The group changed as people got hired or dropped out, and when I got hired I handed it off to other group members.
Job hunting sucks. Having support makes it way easier.
I asked around in various tech communities I was already apart of for other job seekers who were interested. Once I had a small group, we picked a time we were all free to do a video call standup. I think it was twice a week.
We’d do the usual “what we completed, what’s in progress, what we’re doing next”, then people could stay on the call to chat.
We ended up giving each other mock interviews, making connections, and doing resume reviews outside of the standup. Having the support of other people going through a similar experience was very helpful, and the accountability helped keep me motivated.
It was easy to set up. If people got annoyed about something like wanting to join but having a schedule conflict, or not liking the format the group wanted, I cheerfully said that’s a great idea, and suggested they start a new group. Setting that limit got rid of a lot of the annoying parts of organizing events. The group changed as people got hired or dropped out, and when I got hired I handed it off to other group members.
Job hunting sucks. Having support makes it way easier.
This is a really good idea.
Taking something that is basically a lonely depressing activity and putting a social aspect around it.
Well done.
Taking something that is basically a lonely depressing activity and putting a social aspect around it.
Well done.
Here's some more generalized advice about avoiding burnout while job-seeking/interviewing.
I would say the best way to avoid burnout and get better results is to tailor your resume to each job posting.
Most people send out general resumes which causes a candidate to blend into the crowd. My sister used to be in HR and sometimes they only have a small amount of time to skim each resume. So in your cover letter and resume you want to show off your interest in the company and skills right off the bat.
Think of the job posting as bullet points, hit the major points they are looking for in the brief intro paragraph, they will have more incentive to give you an interview.
If you know a graphic designer, it may be worth in to get a custom resume design. Though templates work too, just make sure to not pick a commonly used template. Consider templates on Gumroad or similar sites if you are on a budget.
Another Interview Point.
If it takes them 7 interviews to decide on a candidate don't bother with that company. It shows you that they are
a.) Don't have their act together. A red flag for incompetence.
b.) Are looking for a unicorn candidate and are just stringing you along as a backup candidate.
c.) Already know who they want to hire but have to play "the hiring game" so they can justify why they hired their chosen candidate.
I worked with a company that had me do 5 interviews to get the job and it wasn't a great experience. I ended up quitting due to the management and lack of support.
My advice is a 3 interviews rule. If the company can't figure out if they want you after 3 interviews it is best to look elsewhere. You have to remember that your time has value.
Hope this helps.
I would say the best way to avoid burnout and get better results is to tailor your resume to each job posting.
Most people send out general resumes which causes a candidate to blend into the crowd. My sister used to be in HR and sometimes they only have a small amount of time to skim each resume. So in your cover letter and resume you want to show off your interest in the company and skills right off the bat.
Think of the job posting as bullet points, hit the major points they are looking for in the brief intro paragraph, they will have more incentive to give you an interview.
If you know a graphic designer, it may be worth in to get a custom resume design. Though templates work too, just make sure to not pick a commonly used template. Consider templates on Gumroad or similar sites if you are on a budget.
Another Interview Point.
If it takes them 7 interviews to decide on a candidate don't bother with that company. It shows you that they are
a.) Don't have their act together. A red flag for incompetence.
b.) Are looking for a unicorn candidate and are just stringing you along as a backup candidate.
c.) Already know who they want to hire but have to play "the hiring game" so they can justify why they hired their chosen candidate.
I worked with a company that had me do 5 interviews to get the job and it wasn't a great experience. I ended up quitting due to the management and lack of support.
My advice is a 3 interviews rule. If the company can't figure out if they want you after 3 interviews it is best to look elsewhere. You have to remember that your time has value.
Hope this helps.
> If it takes them 7 interviews to decide on a candidate don't bother with that company.
I don't think I share that opinion. The best jobs I've had were after 7+ rounds of actual interviews: code challenge, several peer panels, systems design, hiring manager, Senior manager, Cutler fit, etc.
That of course doesn't mean there aren't companies out there abusing the system or who have less than genuine tactics. But my point is mere number of rounds isn't a good indicator of anything in isolation. I've also worked at places with less than 3 rounds that were absolutely terrible.
I don't think I share that opinion. The best jobs I've had were after 7+ rounds of actual interviews: code challenge, several peer panels, systems design, hiring manager, Senior manager, Cutler fit, etc.
That of course doesn't mean there aren't companies out there abusing the system or who have less than genuine tactics. But my point is mere number of rounds isn't a good indicator of anything in isolation. I've also worked at places with less than 3 rounds that were absolutely terrible.
I never had a proper job offer after 3 interviews tbh. Most 90%+ jobs need at least 4-5 rounds.
I assume 3 is for startups
I assume 3 is for startups
>Most applications I don't even get a resume screen rejection email.
Does your CV contain all the keywords that a job lists as essential?
As most CVs pass through software (ATS) that auto rejects any that don't match up.
Does your CV contain all the keywords that a job lists as essential?
As most CVs pass through software (ATS) that auto rejects any that don't match up.
Every open rec gets hundreds of applications within the first day. Especially for remote jobs. LinkedIn Easy Apply shows you how many people applied, if your application has been looked at by a human and whether your resume has been downloaded.
My resume for my niche - cloud app dev with la few specialties - was about as impressive as you could get. 5 years across two startups leading all of their cloud initiatives and 3.5 years at AWS (ProServe) and I heard crickets after submitting hundreds of resumes. It was only a Plan C so I didn’t expect much.
I had two offers basically handed to me quickly based on my network and 1 based on targeted outreach to a company that was looking for a specific niche skillset where at the time, one of the industry experts (see time at AWS).
It’s a shit show out here right now. If you have a generic skillset - full stack developer, mobile developer, etc or even “worked at BigTech as a generic mid level developer” - all the resume optimizations don’t help.
I’m not sure what the secret is besides the cliched (but good) advice to leverage your network when you are looking for a job and don’t be a “ticket taker” while working.
My resume for my niche - cloud app dev with la few specialties - was about as impressive as you could get. 5 years across two startups leading all of their cloud initiatives and 3.5 years at AWS (ProServe) and I heard crickets after submitting hundreds of resumes. It was only a Plan C so I didn’t expect much.
I had two offers basically handed to me quickly based on my network and 1 based on targeted outreach to a company that was looking for a specific niche skillset where at the time, one of the industry experts (see time at AWS).
It’s a shit show out here right now. If you have a generic skillset - full stack developer, mobile developer, etc or even “worked at BigTech as a generic mid level developer” - all the resume optimizations don’t help.
I’m not sure what the secret is besides the cliched (but good) advice to leverage your network when you are looking for a job and don’t be a “ticket taker” while working.
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What does burnout mean?
It's a state of psyhical depletion combined with strong emotional distress caused by performing repetitive intellectual work with not sufficient emotional rewards and not enough variety. Keeping it up for months or years leads to dysregulation and makes the activity harder to harder to perform, until the only option is to avoid performing that activity altogether for months (and sort of debiasing you brain). You can get burnt out on any intellectual task. Think of keeping up an intense physical training exercise without variation in hopes of increasing size of a specific muscle to find instead that you hurt that muscle by overtraining and instead you can't move it anymore.
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