Joy in the journey: Why job search milestones are worth celebrating

This article was previously published by CareerWise and is reprinted with permission.

When “Ben” first emailed me to tell me he found a new job, he could barely contain his excitement. The abundant use of exclamation marks and capital letters screamed his enthusiasm. His seven-month job search was over!

I was thrilled, and encouraged him to think about how he would celebrate. He worked hard, and felt discouraged, frustrated, energized and hopeful at various points in his job search. Now, a new job was waiting for him – and there was a lot to celebrate!

I see a lot of clients skip this part. They are so eager to dive into new work that they forget they need to pat themselves on the back. But celebration is important – and not just for the final milestone in a job search.

When I was writing my book, my literary coach asked me, “What are you doing to celebrate?” when my first draft was done. I hadn’t thought about that. I knew I wanted to celebrate when I published the book, but I forgot about recognizing all the achievements along the way. This also applies to a job search. Celebrating a new job is important, but so is congratulating yourself for all the efforts that precede this milestone. 

One big frustration I hear from clients is around the time needed to invest in a job search, which can be particularly overwhelming when working full-time. It’s hard to keep putting in the hours when jobseekers don’t feel they’re getting closer to their end goal: a new job. In fact, each action they take in a job search is a step forward – and many small steps amount to a gigantic leap over time. Each of these can be celebrated and honoured. 

“Celebrating a new job is important, but so is congratulating yourself for all the efforts that precede this milestone.”

Taking five minutes to book a coffee chat is as valuable as an hour invested in customizing a resume. Dedicating a weekend to preparing for a big interview and receiving a LinkedIn recommendation are equally worthy of celebration. Researching 10 companies of interest counts as much as spending 10 minutes crafting a value proposition. Each step is an important job search activity – no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.  

Here’s how you can help your clients inject some energy and celebration into their job search: 

• Work with your client to create a bank of possibilities: What things does your client enjoy doing that would help them recognize their achievements? Possibilities include a day off from the job search, having a coffee with a friend, getting out in nature, buying a new book, hosting a small gathering of friends, cooking a favourite meal or sending thank you notes to people who have helped the individual’s job search. 
• Break large tasks into smaller ones: “Updating my resume” could become “I’m going to add in my professional development courses” or “I’m going to add one new achievement from my last job.” Celebrate each step!
• Recognize completion of larger tasks: Celebrate when updates to a resume are complete, the LinkedIn profile is refreshed or the very first networking coffee is done. All of these take a lot of hard work – rewarding efforts in this area can be satisfying.
• Acknowledge where a client has struggled in their job search: What have they learned about themselves and what new approaches have they taken to surmount these challenges? Encourage them to celebrate this growing self-awareness. 
• Encourage your clients to surround themselves with people who can help them celebrate: As career professionals, we often focus on helping clients establish a support network to have career conversations or express frustrations about their search. It’s also important to have people to share accomplishments and progress with; this can be a great mood and confidence booster. 
• Have your client commit to at least one way they will celebrate the achievement of finding a new job: Having a celebration to look forward to can help keep a job search moving and bring some fresh motivation.  

Clients will be unlikely to think about embracing and recognizing each step in their job search journey and will tend to focus on the biggest outcome of all – finding a job! You can help them feel good about their job search efforts by elevating the importance of each step along the way of their journey. Think of it like a road trip: before we get to our end destination, we can appreciate and find enjoyment in the stops that we make along the way. It doesn’t detract from the end goal – it enhances it.   

By helping clients embrace celebrations (big and small) into their job search strategy, you will help them access new opportunities to build confidence, enhance their resilience, boost motivation and reduce stress in what may have been a frustrating, discouraging and emotionally draining job search. And that’s something to celebrate!