People who have lost their jobs, or feel they need to leave their jobs, can experience something that makes the process much harder. How might someone deal with ‘application fatigue’ or ‘jobseeker burnout’ and move forward?
Alice*, a 26-year-old executive assistant from Auckland, is desperate to leave a job because of a difficult boss and unmanageable workload. “But I can’t leave until I find another job. I’ve sent off at least 15 applications in two months but haven’t got any interviews.”
“When I get an email that effectively says ‘thanks but no thanks’, I sometimes start crying. Like, what am I doing wrong? It’s hard to keep putting yourself out there after rejections. And it’s mentally exhausting, writing all those cover letters and tweaking your CV each time. It’s like ‘hey, who wants to reject me next after I spend a heap of time applying?’.” The fact that some companies don’t even get in touch to say ‘no thanks’ bothers her, too.
Feeling discouraged, Alice has started procrastinating – sometimes putting off writing a cover letter until the hour before applications close.
Meanwhile Joanna*, a 33-year-old from Wellington, was made redundant from her public-service job 11 months ago. Since then, she’s been looking for work without success. “I’m on seek.co.nz every day, and LinkedIn every other day, and I’m with a recruitment agency. But there simply aren’t many job ads right now.”
She’s applied for around 25 jobs that (totally or somewhat) match her skillset – in both the public and private sectors – and has had four interviews. “Close, but no cigar.”
“I know there isn’t a lot out there in this job market – and that there’s a lot of competition for the roles. But I feel like shit if I don’t get an interview. I feel even shittier if I do get an interview but don’t get the job. I start asking myself if there’s something unlikable about me, or if there’s something else I should be saying or doing.”
“It’s particularly hard to make myself apply when I know I’m 98% likely not to get the job, because some candidates will have all the skills listed.”
She’s been networking, but isn’t catching up with former colleagues and contacts as much. “Because I’m embarrassed about telling them I’ve been unemployed for nearly a year.” She also worries that employers might be bothered by that ‘CV gap’. (Girl, blame this economy.)
Finances add pressure. “I’ve spent my redundancy money and I’m getting through my savings quickly.”
“Right now I feel so demoralised and drained that it’s really hard to pick myself up and put myself out there again. I almost feel burned out by the job search. Is that a thing?”
It sure is.
Taking A Toll
In this economy, many people are finding it very hard to find a job. They have to deal with the tedious, repetitive process of searching, applying, waiting for responses – and (if they get to this stage) attending interviews. If they’ve received multiple rejections in a row, they may find it progressively harder to go through the process yet again. They might feel down, tired, bored, unenthusiastic, and might procrastinate. This is known as ‘application fatigue’.
Application fatigue can strike if you have a job but really need to leave it. But it’s generally worse if you don’t have a job for whatever reason – for instance, if you’ve been made redundant, if a fixed-term contact ends, or if you had to quit for a personal reason. Because then you have more financial pressures – and you may worry about how that ‘gap in the CV’ will look to a potential employer.
Burnout, Not Fatigue
In an article called ‘Understanding And Overcoming Job Search Fatigue’, Durgesh Ninawe from business advisory firm KPI writes that “job search fatigue is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that arises from the stress and frustration of looking for a job. It can cause feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and even depression, which can make it difficult for job seekers to stay motivated and engaged in their search for jobs.”
What he calls ‘job search fatigue’ is more characteristic of the more severe ‘job-seeker burnout’: marked by exhaustion, overwhelm, anxiety, feelings of frustration and helplessness, and a loss of self-confidence. This can sometimes lead people to sabotage their search unintentionally – by procrastinating and applying at the last minute, not applying if they don’t have every single skill mentioned, not networking because they’re feeling awful, approaching interviews in a frustrated frame of mind – or even giving up the search albeit usually temporarily (because, bills).
It’s The Economy
If you’re experiencing application fatigue or job-seeker burnout, you’re far from alone in this tight job market amid a recession.
Unemployment numbers are… not great. On February 5, Statistics NZ released data showing that unemployment has hit its highest level in more than four years, rising in the last quarter of 2024 to 5.1%, up from 4.8% in the September quarter.
And in the SEEK Employment Report’s December edition (published on January 20), SEEK NZ country manager Rob Clark said job ads in December 2024 were down 22% compared to December 2023. Also, applications per ad were 32% higher year on year.
Meanwhile, recruitment software provider JobAdder’s Benchmarks Report, published on February 4, found that 78% of recruiters say that candidate numbers are up, but 80% report that hiring levels are down. As increasing numbers of candidates battle for fewer jobs, the job market is likely to remain tight in the first half of 2025.
However, JobAdder’s CEO Martin Herbst expects things to improve somewhat from there, saying that “job seekers should remain positive, continue to sharpen their skills, and proactively position themselves to be best placed to seize new roles as the market turns”.
But how do you do that, if you’re having to deal with application fatigue or job-seeker burnout?
Next Steps To Take When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
The first step is making sure you’re following the right steps! SEEK’s ‘7-step job application checklist’ covers everything from ‘review the application requirements’ through to ‘prepare for the call and follow up’.
How might you approach things more broadly, including psychologically?
Maria Niedzwiecka – founder and executive adviser of digital career-education platform Career Rebels and Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Client Program Director – has made an 11-minute YouTube video called ‘Job Search Burnout? How To Deal With Job Search Depression And Fatigue’. I recommend watching the video (and other related ones) but here are some snippets from the six steps she lays out.
- Step One: Stop. Stop what you’re doing with your job search for now because it’s not working for you, so you might as well find a better way.
- Step 2: Decide on your time commitment. You want to make sure that you dedicate enough time but you also don’t want to overcommit. And that’s because if you put too much pressure on yourself right now and then you cannot stick to that commitment, that will only lead to more job search depression and fatigue.
- Step 3: Schedule. Schedule this time in your calendar.
- Step 4: Brainstorm. Brainstorm all possible job search activities you can do during that time. Maybe you would like to send a specific number of job applications per week. Another activity could be focus on networking. Another idea could be to reach out to new recruiters. You could also think about dedicating time to researching job search tips or practicing interview questions and answers. Maybe your resume needs more work. You can look for new professional development opportunities. At this stage, there are no bad ideas.
- Step 5: Set Goals. We want to be realistic about what you can do. And we also want to make your goals very specific. So have a look at your list and pick the most important activities that you can do within the time you’ve committed to.
- Step 6: Track Your Progress. Transfer your goals to a spreadsheet, or you can do it on paper. And write down what you’re going to do and when. Then simply track your progress each day or week. Are you doing what you should be doing and can you see where the gaps are? The most important thing is that you don’t stop and you stick to your commitments.”
While doing this, make sure to take time away from the search and the screen to do things that add to your wellbeing and help with stress levels, such as spending time with family or in nature. If you need to, seek help from a counsellor or other health professional.
Being kind to yourself is important. In a Harvard Business Review piece called ‘How to Job Hunt (When You’re Already Exhausted)’, career coach Marlo Lyons says “the most important aspect of job hunting is to be compassionate with yourself and change your thought process from ‘I’m not doing enough’ to ‘I’m doing the best I can’.”
