One Simple Thing that got me out of the Job Burnout
Have you ever found yourself re-hashing the words in your email??
I shall get back to you ̶A̶S̶A̶P̶.̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶E̶o̶D̶.̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶E̶o̶W̶. soon.
Thanks, ̶i̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶ ̶p̶l̶e̶a̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶.̶ ̶P̶l̶e̶a̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶.̶ Bye.
This, friends, is literally the job burnout.
The antipathy turned into apathy. When you no longer give a damn about how the ever-so-breathing-down-my-neck manager thinks, the walking-on-emotional-eggshells client thinks or even your ‘I dont want butter — plain bread should do’ depleting bank balance thinks.
There is one thing that can help with Job Burnout — Job Search.
Just applying to new jobs can help overcome burnout. I know, it sounds counterintuitive. Why chase another job when you’re already drowning in the current one?
Curious how this works? Let me share a few hows!
From apathy to empathy:
Job search can bring back those pathos. You can care about a role, can care about the referral, will be excited to open up the job portal.
But the key here is not to expect the response. Not to expect the results. But to keep your action tracker on. Do not fret over why someone did not respond — but who can be the next referral victim !
From out of control to in-control
Actively searching for new opportunities puts you in the driver’s seat. Much better than having no say (instead of saying NO) in your current burning-the-last-brain-cells job.
More options definitely mean more control — did not get to 5 jobs? No worries, there are 5000+ companies hiring. Did not get through 20 companies — no issues. Can I ask for a free resume review — why not? Can I reach out to the head-hunter — yes, let’s see what they say? Can I ask for another 10 referrals — Hell, yes !!
Unexpected network and support
In my experience of asking for 60+referrals, I have not got a simple response from ‘ this should be a low hanging fruit’ kind of person — colleagues, cousins, ‘friends’, etc. I have always found responses in the most unexpected places — a person looking for a cross-referral, a marriage proposal which went to being my messiah for a new job (lol!), one blog post that attracted an HR (wow!, that really happens.), etc.
Give those signals to the universe. Do not stop looking. Reach out more, reach as many as possible.
You need 1 job — means you need 3x interview calls. You need 3x interview calls means — you need 9x people to send in your resume. You need 9x referrals, you have to reach out to 27x people.
Directed learning of new skills
Learning a new skill is what every corporate aka manager encourages. Skills that will help you become a better minion.
Ohh you are into sales and you said a NO, please learn how to improve your empathy. Ohh, you into programming, but you are asking for an explanation on why the project was given to my bum-chum, please learn some collaboration.
But job search teaches us more directive, more useful, more employable skills. With just digital sales in my box, I got to learn B2B sales, cloud sales and a bit about brand building to help land the interviews across companies. No I didn’t crack them all, but cracked one eventually when I had learnt enough to mutter those words.
Take that dusty cobwebbed CV and turn that into your personal manifesto !
Finally to summarise,
Burnout to me felt like sitting right in the bottom of a very deep pit. Every action I would take to help myself in the job I was stuck in would take me to a new level of rock bottom and I was losing my confidence like a deciduous tree loses its leaves in autumn — as the days grew, leaves got lesser! This is the time to find a new climate, new place and try growing there.
So, climb out, dust yourself off, and face the future with an open mind and a hopeful heart.
The world of possibilities awaits, and you, my friend, are equipped to conquer it.
