Avoiding Burnout in Your Job Search

April 30, 2025

Consumer confidence in the economy and job market fell in March, sparked by people’s outlooks on factors like income, business, and the labor market.

Whether you were struggling with your job search since the economic outlook was more optimistic, or you find yourself discouraged and looking for a job amidst the current economic upheaval, know that you aren’t alone. The uncertainty of the future and the stress of maintaining finances while out of work can weigh heavily, and the stress of job hunting can lead to an array of mental health issues for anyone. Taking care of your mental health is vital, and the better you are doing mentally, the better you can focus on the end goal: landing a job. 

And of course, it’s normal to experience some level of burnout while looking for a job. The best thing you can do, aside from minding your mental health, is develop a strategy aimed at keeping you motivated and productive while you look for your future role. How do you do this?

  1. Create a schedule to keep yourself on track. Feeling the effects of burnout makes it easy to become lax, which leads to loss of momentum and motivation. Having a daily routine is important for your general well-being, but is especially helpful in keeping yourself accountable in your job search when you start to lose motivation. Start with general daily habits, like waking up at the same time each day, and then add in others, like submitting at least one application a day at the same time each day. Build on those until you’ve got a solid routine down.

  1. Keep consistent, but don't overload yourself. The job search process, especially when prolonged, can become tiresome and begin to feel fruitless. While it’s important to stay consistent in the search, make sure you give yourself breaks so you don’t overdo it and tire yourself out too quickly. Maybe you want to limit yourself to only applying to a set number of jobs Monday - Friday and give yourself the weekends off, or maybe you want to apply to as many as possible in a certain timeframe and then give yourself the time to recoup. 

  1. Switch up your strategy and where you look for jobs. It’s easier to fall into a rut if you keep doing the same thing over and over again. A routine is good, but your strategy shouldn’t be. Maybe you’ve only been using websites like Indeed or Glassdoor to look for jobs. Or maybe you’ve only been doing outreach on LinkedIn. Mix it up to keep you and your job search feeling fresh (and don’t forget that Hire an Esquire is here to help you find short-term contract roles and permanent positions). And try to get offline and in person as part of your job search—check local networking events or even affinity groups for interests unrelated to your career.  

  1. And of course, last, but certainly not least, be kind to yourself throughout your journey. You won’t always get the job or the interview, and it’s easy to blame yourself and think you’re doing something wrong. You are doing what you can and what is within your control. When searching for a job, the last thing you need is to lose confidence in yourself and your talents or adopt imposter syndrome about your capabilities. Always give yourself grace. This is a difficult process and there’s no magical formula— particularly in a tough and uncertain economy.