Job searching tips in a tough market – how to stay motivated

It’s a tough market out there if you are searching for a new job; cracking how to stay motivated is a large part of the battle. 

There’s been an increase in redundancies recently, and employers appear more cautious about recruiting – likely driven by cost pressures, economic uncertainty created by the US’s Hokey Cokey on tariffs, and higher labour costs thanks to National Insurance and National Minimum Wage increases. 

Cost pressures flow down supply chains too, creating reductions in opportunities at all levels and in all sizes of organisation. Marketing functions (and agencies) are particularly hard hit as companies try to reduce budgets. With fewer vacancies at all levels, the market is flooded with more experienced people willing to take lower-paid or lower-level jobs, which has a knock-on effect on entry level roles.  

All of these conditions prompted James Reed, chairman and CEO of recruitment group Reed, to say this is the gloomiest jobs market he can remember. Official stats show 35 months of declining vacancies, from a high of 1.3m to around 761,000 now. The UK is the only European country which hasn’t seen job postings recover to pre-pandemic levels.  

Concerns are echoed by research from jobs platform Indeed, which suggests graduates will have the toughest time in a long time. Graduate roles have declined by 12% from last year – and are lower than in the pandemic. It’s a really tough picture, however you look at it.   

What are my career coaching clients seeing? 

While it has been tough for clients I’m working with, and it is definitely taking much longer to secure the right role, finding a new job isn’t a totally lost cause. It takes more resilience than ever, but it is still possible to change jobs and make progress in your career.  

And there is some light at the end of the tunnel. What we haven’t seen is reducing salaries. When clients do secure a new job, I haven’t found they need to accept a lower salary or inferior overall package. So while the process of finding a role is tougher, at least the rewards are the right ones.  

Help to stay motivated if you’re looking for a new job in a tough market 

In coaching we talk about focusing on what you can control. The big economic factors aren’t something you have any influence over, so if you’re on the hunt for your next job, you need to gather your energy and keep it focused. Here are three recommendations I’m making to all my job search and career coaching clients.  

1. Start by appreciating where you are, because this makes it a bit easier to stay while you’re searching.We all know what it’s like when you have already mentally checked out. It’s easy to focus all your energy on what the future will look like, how much better things will be, and that can make you even more disillusioned with the place you’re in right now. Job searches are a long haul, so you need to be able to be content in your current role. Making peace with your job at the moment and being able to do it well will help you feel resilient about how long securing a new job might take. Instead of throwing your imagination a long way forward to the dream scenario enabled by the new role – whether that’s a shorter commute, bigger salary or nicer colleagues – try to focus on what you’re doing now in your current job, and what you need to do in the immediate short term to make progress with your search.
2. Stay relevant through targeted personal development. We can’t underestimate the impact of AI and other technology on professional roles. It’s likely these changes are driving some of the reduction in vacancies, too. So it’s even more important that you keep your skills and knowledge sharp by thinking about what your role and profession will look like inthe  future. Your current personal development plan will be built for the role you have now, but can you broaden it to feel more future-focused? Don’t rely on what your employer provides, though. Read widely about your industry and invest in your own development with free courses or other self-development opportunities.
3. Be open-minded about your criteria for the next roleWhile people want to search for their perfect next job, the reality is that looking for an imperfect one might serve you better. This means adjusting your criteria for the role you’re looking for, which should broaden the pool of opportunities for you to consider. As an example, we’re seeing an almost wholesale push back on remote working, with two or three days in an office a much more likely requirement right now. If hybrid working is part of your non-negotiable criteria, you may need to rebalance how many days you expect to be able to do at home. Taking a good look at the things you want in a new job and reassessing whether you could compromise should mean you have more opportunities to consider.  

How working with a careers coach can help your job search 

Resilience is critical to long job searches, and it can be hard to keep yourself motivated. An important part of my role is picking clients up from disappointments, working out what we can learn about the process they have been unsuccessful in, and giving them the impetus to start the search again.  

Relying on friends and family for this support can be tricky over the long-term. With a career coach there’s no sense of embarrassment that you lost out at the final interview again. I know how often that happens and that it’s not about what you did wrong at that stage.  

If you need support to stay motivated during a tough job search, drop me a line to see how we could work together.