When your job search feels overwhelming

If your job search is getting harder instead of easier, consider that your why may be overwhelmed by your how.

Each of us has a reason for doing what we do. In this case, we have a reason, or maybe a few reasons, for engaging in a job search.

It's not because you got a pink slip. That's in the past, and while it certainly colors your perception of the events surrounding your job search, it is not why you are searching. For example, you could have gone home and pulled the covers over your head. You have the choice not to search. (I know, there's the mortgage, but you still have the choice.)

If you are feeling like there is just too much to do, you may be concentrating on how everything must get done instead of on why you are doing it.

To find out, take an hour today when you can sit and write without being interrupted.

Write "Why am I job hunting?" at the top of your page. List your whys. But there's one rule. They have to be in the present or future. Like I said, it can't have anything to do with getting laid off or hating your boss.

So, why are you searching?