Alumni careers blog: Five essential habits for job seekers

25 February 2025

Recently, my daughter scraped through the first exam in the first year of her undergraduate chemistry degree. She was devastated and embarrassed, having always been a high performer. Instead of letting her dwell on this, I told her: "You need to be prepared to fail and be wrong, but we, as parents, expect you to stay positive, identify the learning from the experience and continue to build your studies." This advice is in line with, and inspired by, Angela Lee Duckworth’s research on grit and her inspiring TED Talk that has generated over 15M views.

I am asking you:

  • How much has your job application tracking spreadsheet grown over the last few months?
  • How many of these applications have been rejected?
  • How many recruiters have never responded?

I hear you saying: "It feels never-ending. It’s like a full-time job now and it’s so difficult to keep going and despite your best efforts keep receiving rejection emails."

Let’s face it, job hunting is a marathon that requires perseverance, determination and grit. So check out Angela Duckworth’s talk because, in a prolonged job-hunting game, being ‘gritty’ could well be your key to success.

According to StandOutCV website in 2024 it takes the average candidate around four months to find a job and the average application process from start to finish takes just under 28 days. These numbers will differ depending on the level of qualifications applicants have, the shortage area of skills they might fill in and on the industry.

Here are my top five job-hunting habits:

  1. Establish a routine

If you are really treating job hunting as a job in itself then do it within set hours and in a dedicated workspace. You have the flexibility of choosing your ‘working hours’ depending on what time of the day you are more productive. For example, if you are more focused and efficient in the morning, set time for planning and completing job applications then. So, in the afternoon you can allocate time for upskilling, along with some light networking.  Make sure you take regular breaks too.  

Preparing for work will also require you to get yourself dressed to impress too. You would not be projecting the best you on a Zoom call with a recruiter in your creased shirt or indeed your PJs. Sorry, gone are days of the pandemic and their related elasticated joggers.

  1. Set small, achievable goals

You are managing a project, so use these PM skills you talk about in your applications to break down the process into manageable tasks. It is an opportunity to practise dealing with uncertainty and complexity and move towards becoming ‘antifragile’, a concept developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, which describes systems or entities that not only withstand stressors, shocks, and volatility but actually improve and grow stronger because of them.  

Set your KPIs to include:

  • Number of applications per week
  • Number of new connections
  • Number of informational conversations

Check your progress against these KPIs and celebrate the small wins. Share this within your support network. See habit 4. 

  1. Practise active self-care

A few years back I worked with a recent graduate who was going through a three-month long job-hunting period. However, the graduate was well aware that she had to look after herself and this included regular walks, mindfulness, and lots of coffee chats with friends. I still remember our virtual coaching conversations while she was in the park, talking to me and sharing videos of the spring bulbs and the chorus of the early birds. On reflection I think we both found these conversations motivating and energising.

  1. Engage with a support network

A big shout out for our recent full-time MBA graduates who are a wonderful example of building a support network. They have a WhatsApp group where they share successes and frustrations and I feel it is great to see how social support can be so useful and important in difficult times. Find and develop your support network and this includes not being shy to initiate it.

I am aware that in some instances this might not work as instead of being a stress-buffer platform, it creates more stress, especially if you try to compare yourself to others in a negative aspect.
In this case, you can consider sourcing different social interactions which will give you the support you require.

An accountability partner can be there for you to keep checking on how you are meeting those KPIs. You can share with them your plan and ask them to check on you on a regular basis. 

  1. Don’t stop learning

While job-hunting you can certainly identify skills or experience which you might not have or not be so good at. There are plenty of opportunities to upskill online, including various webinars that WBS run for our alumni community.

Volunteering can be a great way to meet new people, develop new skills and acquire new knowledge. On that note, I will head down to my local National Trust property, where I will spend a few hours a month to help others enjoy this part of the world but guess what? First, I have to learn the history of this area myself.