Searching for a job can be very stressful, regardless of how long you’ve been looking. The good news however is that job seekers have more control than they think they do, and it IS possible to take control over your stress level.

Control What You Can Control
True, you cannot make someone hire you, but there are many things you CAN control to get you there.

Although you aren’t being paid, you ARE employed. There are many thousands of people who are employed in jobs that are unpaid…at least, unpaid until they sell something. They are called commission salespeople.

You are a commission salesperson too. The great news is that you only have to make 1 sale, and you get years of commission from that sale in the form of a steady paycheck.

Here are 2 action items to reduce your stress:

1. Have a plan. You need to know when to do what; not just that you’ll send out 3 resumes tomorrow, but WHEN will you send them out? To whom? Many job seekers would call 3 resumes sent out a successful day. However, with a plan, knowing where those resumes are going in advance, you’ll find the act of sending them should only take a matter of minutes. You still have a full day left!

When you wake up, you should know which social media accounts to check first, AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR so you don’t get distracted. Social Media is a tool that should be used to help you reach your goal, not to distract you from it. Distractions are for break time, not to be done when you’re on the clock.

After you check your accounts, what’s next? Search postings? Which boards? Email key contacts? Which ones? When do you research target companies? Networking?

If you have your entire day planned out, you know when to do what, you will get 10 times your production level achieved EVERY SINGLE DAY! You have control of what you accomplish daily.

2. Pursue multiple opportunities. Just because you have an interview set up at your ideal target company, does NOT mean you should turn down an interview with that other company that you don’t know much about, or that third company that you’re pretty sure you won’t like.

If it doesn’t work out at option A, the other jobs will likely be gone by the time you’re ready to apply. The fact is that no matter what you think you know about a company, unless you’ve worked there before, you don’t know. Give them a chance to surprise you.

When you only have one thing going, all of your emotion and energy get deeply invested in that one opportunity. If it doesn’t work out, it’s devastating! It can cripple you for days as you walk around the house in despair that the one thing you really wanted didn’t happen.

But if you have many things going, losing one is not so traumatic. If one of them DOES work out, you can approach your negotiations from a much better mindset. It’s hard to negotiate a good offer when you desperately need it. When you have multiple options, and they know it, suddenly you’re the chased, not the chaser.

The most important part of having a plan and multiple options is the stress relief.

Later in the evening when you’re sitting down to watch “The Voice” on TV, and that other voice starts talking in the back of your head…you know the one, it says, “You don’t have time to be watching TV! You should be looking for a job! What are you doing?” If you have a plan in place, and you’re executing that plan every day, then you can turn to that voice and say:

“Stop it! I did what I was supposed to do today and I’m going to do it again tomorrow. If I keep doing it every day, something great will happen for me!!”

A daily plan with multiple options is the best stress relieving tool a salesperson, or job seeker, has at their disposal. By choosing to make a plan, you are choosing to reduce your stress and see more success, not down the road, but tomorrow, the day you execute your plan.

If you don’t have a plan for the rest of your day today, make one now. If you don’t know how, www.SpeedUpMyJobSearch.com has a solution. We have a tool we give our members that lays out a daily plan for them, telling them when to do what, every day, based on the number of hours they have available each week; employed or not. Regardless of where you get your plan, make one, quiet that stressful voice, and take control over your job search.