CAREER

IS JOB APPLICATION FATIGUE A THING?

Job searching is Full-time job with no pay or benefits

As 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’ 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

Founder / Lead Talent Development Coach pRESPECT

think you are wasting time. However, in recent years, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace and our lives have become a mainstream conversation with focused attempt to reduce the stigma of fatigue and burnout that eventually affect our daily lives. For some people, it may lead to poor mental wellbeing, health complications or early death.

So, the question “is job application fatigue a

thing?” The simple answer is yes, yes, it is. When we say job applications, we can also relate this to business applications. For the context of this, we will reference job applications and the process in between the application. Job searching is full-time job with no pay or benefits. Job searching is a full-time job that is stressful, anxietyinducing and can lead to terrible exhaustion, which eventually leads to fatigue and, if left unchecked, can lead to mental health breakdown.

Remember, when job hunting, you are not just dealing with the applications; you are also dealing with rejections, poor feedback, vague feedback such as “you were our second-best candidate, the other person had 1,2,3 other things we liked more”, and worst of all you hear absolutely nothing regarding your applications. These experiences affect you long term if you don’t address them. If you add the pressure that you may be experiencing to find work, you are now working a full-time around the clock without breaks - this is when fatigue starts to creep in. You will notice when you are exhausted, applications will become below standards, you will stop tailoring your applications and if you land an interview, you may be less effective as fatigue affects your reactions, which means you will not perform at your best. For business owners and emerging founders reading this, application fatigue can be exhausting, especially if you do not have a system to make the process easier. Over the past five months of pivoting my company and launching a sister company, I have learnt the most powerful lesson in asking for help and delegating tasks.

Yes, you may at first wear all the hats to get the ball rolling in your business. However as you grow and you start to feel stretched, exhausted and not enjoying your business anymore. These are signals that you need to take a break, regroup, and find ways to access help. During the last few weeks of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, I experienced burnout, leading to mental fatigue. Nevertheless, I pushed myself to deliver the best service and support possible, while adapting my business online and ensuring my two employees were also okay. Yes, I was also homeschooling and finishing off my degree! I don’t recommend this attitude and I created plan to help me look after myself more.

Tips and Suggestions Don’t despair; I am not going to leave you exhausted with doom and gloom. I invite you to start putting good habits in practice:

1 Use your calendar and planners: schedule your daily activities including application time. 2 Schedule your rest, breaks, lunch, and end of work time. Even if you work remotely and for yourself, reminding yourself to rest, eat and sleep will get your wellbeing habits in a great place 3 Take breaks from applications, for example you can do your job application Monday to Friday and Saturday is your recreation recharge day and Sunday reflect on your week. Spend at least two hours Sunday afternoon scheduling your week ahead and then unwind. 4 Go to bed before midnight during the week Take plenty of digital breaks

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Self-care to us isn’t just an external practice; it’s an internal one as well. We believe in investing in your self-development; your relationship with yourself and your learning is just as important as investing in downtime, self-care products or treatments.

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