How to look after yourself in your development job hunt

With bills to pay and responsibilities to meet, oftentimes, the default reaction to unexpected unemployment is to dive right into finding a new position, spending all hours filling out applications and scrambling to network. Experts warned, however, that taking this approach and failing to take care of yourself during the job hunt can impede the process. “It's a real need to have a job and be financially stable [and people] think that that should supersede the need to look after yourself, but what I find is when people let go of looking after themselves, they often come to a stage of burnout,” warned Jeeda Alhakim, a specialist counseling psychologist and senior lecturer at City St George's, University of London, who has worked on projects around aid workers’ mental health. Right now, she believes there is an overall sense of despondency and helplessness among job seekers in the aid and development sectors. That’s related to the swarm of job losses that have come in the wake of the Trump administration’s downsizing of USAID and other government agencies alongside aid cuts in other countries, forcing many NGOs to impose layoffs. This is creating an oversaturated job market, making job searching right now more fraught. With this in mind, it’s even more crucial that job seekers take steps to protect their overall health and well-being, experts said. “A job search is an emotionally demanding search, even in a good market,” said Rachel Korb, a coach and body-mind mentor. “You’re dealing with a lot of rejection and none of it’s personal, but it feels very personal as you’re going through the experience.” But what does taking care of yourself look like on a practical level? Devex asked the experts. 1. Sticking to a routine If a person has lost their job and their days now consist of job hunting, Mona Chergui, a counsellor, psychotherapist, coach, and well-being project manager, stressed how easy it can be to forgo a routine, but how key it is to looking after yourself. “Just making sure that we're eating three mainly nutritious meals every day …, that we’re still doing our exercise routine, that maybe we get out once a day and do a walk around the block; that can cover a lot of taking care of ourselves without really thinking about it,” she shared. Setting a structure in place can also make job hunting seem less of a daunting task and make job searching, CV editing, application submission, and interview preparation more manageable. But only a set part of the day should be dedicated to job hunting, said Lucia Berdondini, associate professor in psychology at the University of East London, told Devex in an email, warning against letting it take over entirely. “Instead dedicate a specific time for applications and then allow yourself space for rest, movement, or connecting with others.” Alhakim suggested also setting time aside to cultivate the things that bring joy. “It might be a friend, family member, or children … Are there any hobbies that they can kind of go back to? If [they] can build that relationship with that person or that thing, that can help them cultivate hope a bit more.” 2. Identifying your goals There can be a tendency in a job hunt to apply for anything that remotely fits your skill set in what Korb referred to as the “scarcity mindset.” But operating this way can lead to fewer application responses, which feeds into negative thoughts and potential loss of self-confidence. “When we enter a job search driven by fear … we can easily fall into a survival mode that narrows our perspective. It can lead to frantic applications, accepting roles that don’t align with our values, or feeling crushed by every rejection. Over time, this erodes confidence and creates a vicious cycle of stress and self-doubt,” agreed Berdondini. “In the aid sector, where people often connect their identity with their work, that fear can also undermine their sense of purpose and belonging.” With that in mind, Chergui suggested starting any job search by identifying your main goals, be they financial, geographical, based on the skills you want to utilize, or the trajectory you wish your career to follow. “Spend time determining what your priorities are, thinking about what you can compromise on … What is going to be okay for your mental health and well-being? But then also be clear on what the nonnegotiables are,” said Chergui. “That can really help to provide perspective.” 3. Listening to the body When an opportunity comes in, if finances allow, experts told Devex it’s important to then consider if it’s the right fit rather than automatically accepting — even though that may be tempting in this market. Korb suggested doing a body scan to see how the idea of the new role and workplace sits. “80% of the information we take in is through our senses and it moves up the vagus nerve into the brain and then the brain makes sense of it. Only 20% actually starts in the brain so if we're shutting down the body, we’re shutting down potentially up to 80% of information,” she said. “Expansion normally means you’re in alignment and moving in the direction of somewhere you want to go so that might be warmth in the chest, or maybe you start to smile … Contraction is normally felt in the throat, the jaw, the chest, knots in the stomach, or tensing the shoulders. This is normally out of alignment.” To increase the chances of a positive mind and body reaction to a position, it should be aligned with your values as well as your goals, Korb added. To identify whether a role does that, she suggested assessing whether your values show up within the potential employer and whether anything in the role lends itself to skills you have. “It’s really important that you are evaluating them just as much as they’re evaluating you,” she said. 4. Getting organized A mistake people often make when job hunting, said Chergui, is being too haphazard in their approach to the employment search. This can mean repeat or half-filled applications and losing track of which roles have been applied to and where. To maintain a sense of order, she recommended creating a spreadsheet that lists potential jobs that align with your goals, their closing dates, and when they’ve been applied for. Organization can help tap into a sense of calm and peace rather than a frantic energy. “I also encourage everybody to save their applications that they have it ready should they be invited to an interview, but also to use things that they’ve already written to apply to other jobs as well, so you don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel,” Chergui said “If you kind of have the base content right, you can then adapt it for each application that you’re doing.” That can free up some time that can be spent doing other things that bring joy. 5. Finding support Now more than ever, job seekers are not alone. And rather than navigating a rocky employment market alone, there is value in connecting with others experiencing the same situation, said the coaches who spoke with Devex. “Talking with peers, mentors, or colleagues can reduce the isolation and give you perspective. Sometimes even sharing the frustration helps,” said Berdondini. Currently, there are a number of online and offline forums and platforms convening those impacted by the aid cuts and offering tangible job-seeking advice as well as space to connect with others on creative ideas and discuss the impact of the cuts. The USAID Stop-Work website, USAID Resource Hub, and free monthly career-reset events by certain coaches, for example, have emerged since the cuts to USAID were announced earlier this year, while university alumni networks and circles of practice have long been sources of support in the community. These can be tapped into to feel a sense of community and provide support. But overall, said Alhakim, it’s important to remember “that a job is just part of one part of you.”