Motivation and Accountability During Your Job Search
You know you need to work on your job search. You have been laid off and need to pay your bills. Or you hate your job and know that you need to find someplace better. Yet, sometimes you are just not motivated to make that phone call to a networking contact or research that potential employer. You wake up with good intentions but get distracted by the latest news, your child's needs, or just wanting to do something else.
Procrastination is not a scenario for everyone. Some people seem to have great self-motivation. They can work on their job search day-after-day like clockwork. They have a plan and work it - and nothing distracts them. Great for them. If that is not you, do not despair. There are things you can do to help you stay on track.
Inner and Outer Expectations
Motivation is a funny thing. How motivated we are to do anything can depend on what it is, how long it will take, and the importance to us or others. Bestselling author Gretchen Reuben has been studying human nature. She has come up with a construct called The Four Tendencies to divide people into groups based upon the ease of meeting both inner and outer expectations. To find which group you fit in, take The Four Tendencies Quiz.
The Obliger
The largest group of people fall into the Obliger category. Obligers can readily meet outer expectations, what the world asks of us. These would be activities such as work deadlines or being a volunteer at your child's school. Inner expectations are those things that are important to us as individuals, such as improving one's health or reading more books. These activities, ones we choose that help only us, can be harder for Obligers do. The external world makes many demands for our time and attention, and the things we want to do (and even need to do) can be pushed aside. The same can be said for a job search.
While getting a job can have many external expectations, such as from a spouse or even bill collectors, how one gets there, and our inner expectations can dictate the steps and progress. When an Obliger has a lot of autonomy on how and when to get a result, they often need to build outer accountability into their job search process to progress and hit milestones.
The Other Tendencies: Questioners, Upholders, and Rebels
You know you need to work on your job search. You have been laid off and need to pay your bills. Or you hate your job and know that you need to find someplace better. Yet, sometimes you are just not motivated to make that phone call to a networking contact or research that potential employer. You wake up with good intentions but get distracted by the latest news, your child's needs, or just wanting to do something else.
Procrastination is not a scenario for everyone. Some people seem to have great self-motivation. They can work on their job search day-after-day like clockwork. They have a plan and work it - and nothing distracts them. Great for them. If that is not you, do not despair. There are things you can do to help you stay on track.
Questioners
The second-largest group is the Questioners. They can meet inner and outer expectations if it makes sense to them. They are called "Questioners" since they ask a lot of questions to try to understand the "why" of things. Questioners can get stuck with analysis-paralysis, always wanting to get more information to understand a problem or issue before setting on a course of action. Their concern is often coming up with a plan that makes sense to them.
Upholders
This group is called "Upholders," since they meet both their inner and outer expectations. Motivation is not their problem, nor is accountability. If they have a process, they are happy to follow it. What they are not good at is being flexible. When something isn't working, and a different tactic is needed, they sometimes can flounder.
Rebels
Rebels are the smallest group and probably the most complex of the four. They have an issue meeting both inner and outer expectations. They just do not want to be held to any expectation- even their own. They want to be free to do what they want when they want. For this group, motivation and accountability can be very challenging.
Since the largest group of the four tendencies is Obligers, I am going to spend most of this article talking about motivation and accountability with them in mind. If you are any of the three other groups and feel you have these basics down or feel are just not applicable to your situation, jump to the end for helpful tips to help you stay motivated and accountable during your job search.
Ideas for Building in Motivation and Accountability
SMART Goals
SMART is an acronym that represents Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timebound. SMART goals are a staple of project management. It helps project managers by breaking up large projects into smaller activities, keeping people on track for completion, and motivated by giving those using it small wins along the way.
Job seekers can break up their job search into specific areas and create SMART goals around each. As an example, when it comes to networking, a goal of networking each day may be too nebulous. What does this mean? How many outreach attempts is the right number? Does this mean talking to someone or emailing? Does success mean one email sent or more? This is where SMART goals come in. They put parameters around the activity, help the job seeker know what is expected, how to do it, and defines success.
As an example, a SMART goal around networking could be the following:
This week, I will spend five hours researching the background of 20 potential new contacts at companies where I would like to work. I am going to capture the information into my job search spreadsheet. I will then send a custom outreach note to each one, mentioning something unique about them that I found in my research. Additionally, I am going to send at least one follow up email to everyone that I tried contacting last week that did not respond.
It has specific activities; it is measurable as to whether it was completed, it is achievable with planning, it is something that can be realistically accomplished and timebound, and needs to happen during the week. A weekly SMART goal can be further broken up into daily SMART goals.
Upholders love SMART goals and are very motivated by having a to-do list. SMART goals can help Obligers if they can figure out a way that their activities might help someone else. Maybe they will learn, through practice, new ways of connecting that could help say a neighbor that is selling crafts. Questioners can fully embrace SMART goals if they understand and believe there is a purpose to what they are trying to do. Rebels often do not like to be tied down to specific activities on specific days. But if the due date is over a more significant period and there is some ability to mix and match activities, and when to do them, they may be okay if the goal is vital to their identity.
Accountability Groups
Definitely for Obligers, and selectively for the other tendencies, an accountability group can be a great idea to provide accountability to do all the tasks required for an effective job search. There is a tendency to do the tasks that play to your strengths or are easy, as opposed to the most effective ones. An accountability group can provide the external pressure to do all that myriad activities that comprise a successful job search.
Because an accountability group will force each participant to recount their specific job search activities over the past week, many people will not want to disappoint the group. They will want to talk about at least something they did for their job search each week. Additionally, the accountability group can provide motivation, as others' experiences and successes can spur a renewed excitement about various job search tasks and competitive spirit to match or exceed the success of others.
So whether you want to join an existing group or start one yourself, here are some guidelines for a successful accountability group.
Decide who will be the leader. Each group needs at least one person to plan the meeting and do any administrative work consistently.
Ensure that the group consists of at least one person who can model the behavior you would like to emulate. If everyone is floundering with their job search, it may be hard to ensure accountability. Having one person that is actively focused on their job search and has excellent organizational skills (or a previous job seeker) is critical to keeping the group focused and on track.
Allow for some failure in the group. No one is expected to be perfect and do all they pledged to do in the previous meeting. This should be a judgment-free arena; otherwise, people will be uncomfortable and won't keep coming.
While occasional failure to move forward on your job search is okay, continued failure to do so is not. If it becomes clear that the person is not invested in their job search, it is okay to have rules in place that provide the opportunity to dismiss a member.
Accountability groups should offer its participants three things: 1) A safe place to talk about their job search struggles, 2) A place to get ideas when they feel stuck and are not making progress, and 3) A place to share successes.
From an organizational perspective, here are some helpful hints for starting an accountability group.
How many people will be part of the group? Generally, four to five people are good numbers to generate conversation and allow people time to speak about their situation.
What type of people are allowed in the group? Colleagues, friends, fellow job seekers found on social media? Is this going to be geared toward a specific industry or type of job? Do participants need to be in the same place in their careers?
How will you handle adding people to the group or removing people?
How are you going to have the meeting? In-person? Video?
How often will you have these meetings? It is suggested that you have a weekly meeting. Will it be the same day of the week and time? How long? Usually, an accountability meeting should be at least one hour.
How long will each individual have time to talk about their situation?
Will the group have a standard celebration for successes, such as obtaining interviews or job offers?
How will you handle the "negative nellies" that want to use the meeting to complain about their situation and the "system."
Is the group going to have a theme for the meeting (such as negotiation)? Or can any topic be raised during the session?
How long will the group stay active? What happens with members that have successfully found a job?
Do you want communication to happen outside of the group? Do you want to establish a message board or closed group on social media to ask questions or make comments outside of the weekly meeting?
Do you want the group to use productivity apps such as RescueTime or StayFocused.
Motivation and Accountability: The Other Three Tendencies
Questioners
Important to Questioners is knowing their why. If a Questioner is already employed and does not like their present job, they need to explore how a new job would improve their life. Saying to a Questioner that they could make more money is not enough. They would need to think through if making more money is important to them, and if so, how much would be enough to make a move worthwhile. If the job search is thrust upon them, such as with a layoff, they may get trapped in trying to figure out the best approach. Why should they network, or why should a resume be written in a certain way? Questioners should explore the rationale of different methods and limit themselves to a certain number of resources or a specific period for doing research. An Accountability Group may be beneficial to a Questioner if they feel that there is value to the information they would get by starting or joining such a group.
Upholders
Perfectionism and overscheduling is the Upholder's Achilles' heel. They are great with processes and can follow them to the letter. But when things get off track or progress is not made, which often happens in a job search, they can get very frustrated and not want to change course but try harder. They also will get fixated with getting things done to perfection, the perfect email invitation, the perfect resume, and waste time when good is good enough. While they do not need Accountability Groups, like an Obliger, they can use the feedback from others when their perfectionism is getting in their way. Other voices can also help them see a different way of doing things.
Upholders love to check off lists, and they are motivated to do so. They should make a daily/weekly to-do list and check off their tasks as they go.
Rebels
Since Rebels do not like to be held to a schedule and want the freedom to do as they want when they want, they can be motivated by building in that freedom. For example, they could wish to accomplish a significant number of networking calls within a week. But they allow the ability to do them when they feel like it and as long as it is interesting. Whether that is all in one day or spread out over a week, they are motivated by the freedom to choose.
Additionally, Rebels are attuned to their own identity. If they see themselves as a successful digital marketer and a move to a new position as a step to realizing this vision, they are more likely to do the work. Rebels also like a challenge. If someone in their life tells them they can't do something, they are easily motivated to prove them wrong.
Accountability groups would not generally be a good idea for a Rebel, due to the fixed time and place inherent with this format.
Conclusion
For most people, a job search is more akin to a marathon than a sprint. Often getting started is the easy part; it is harder to stay focused and motivated when it has been weeks and months, and there is no end in sight. That is why, in addition to thinking about how to update a resume or your LinkedIn profile, it is crucial to figure out how you will keep yourself motivated and accountable during a job search.
Here is additional information about the Four Tendencies and author Gretchen Rubin.
Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.
