MENTHER CAREERS
IS JOB APPLICATION FATIGUE A THING? Job searching is Full-time job with no pay or benefits
A
s a career coach, learning and development specialist and founder of two organisations, I recognise that fatigue or burnout is shared experiences that we are not talking about enough. And if we are talking about it, we are not addressing the cause or creating preventative solutions in our lives to avoid it. Burnout used to be seen and worn as a badge of honour for startups and entrepreneurs. I sometimes wonder if this was done as a coping mechanism. In 2007 the Founder of Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, collapsed at home while on her phone and checking her emails. She woke up in a pool of blood, broken cheekbone, and a cut above her eye. She first thought she had a
brain tumor and had multiple doctor appointments to find out the cause of her stumble. After undergoing various checks and tests, her doctor returned with the simple answer that she was exhausted and burnt out. Before the accident, Arianna was working 18 hours a day for two years running Huffington Post on very little sleep or rest. This ‘burnout to achieve’
Founder / Lead Talent Development Coach pRESPECT
mindset was very common and expected in the early days before wellbeing and mental health awareness were part of the conversations. What has this got to do with me? You may be reading this and thinking; ‘yes, but Arianna is founder and CEO; how does what happened to her affect me as a job seeker applying for work’. As a student applying for internships or grad positions or an emerging founder applying for funds, exhaustion and burnout can happen to you too regardless of your job title. At one point in your life, you will experience fatigue and you may be one of those people that will push through or the type that will take a break to recharge, but will feel guilty about it as you Inspire | Connect | Empower
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