If you’ve been struggling to find a steady job or one that meets your needs, first know that you are not alone. After I left my full-time job in January 2024, I ended up working as an independent contractor for over a year — far longer than I had anticipated or desired to be in this position. 

Admittedly, I didn’t (and still don’t, some days) have the best mindset about my circumstances, nor have I responded well to many rejections I received. Here are five tips, from a fellow job hunter, that I learned the hard way.

Interview your interviewer

When it comes to job hunting, the focus is generally on pitching yourself to potential employers. Of course, putting your best foot forward is key to achieving your employment goals, but this mindset puts overwhelming pressure on job seekers.  

What if—in addition to arming yourself with interview question responses—you prepared your own interview to screen the company for which you are a candidate? Interviews don’t have to be one-way. In fact, once you get into the mindset that you’re interviewing companies just as much as they’re interviewing you, it takes some of the pressure off your own shoulders and ultimately helps you approach the job hunt with greater confidence and peace. 

To successfully interview your interviewer, I recommend the following steps:

• identify your own job needs and desires, 
• research the company (e.g., website, social media, employee, and customer reviews), 
• and ask your own questions.

Avoid being overly picky about your next job, but also remember that every company you apply to has to pass its interview and meet the standards that you establish.

Be open

One of the most frustrating aspects of the job hunt, in my experience, is figuring out which job opportunities are worth your time and which ones to pass by. My brother once gave me a piece of advice that has significantly decreased my anxiety about making that call. He told me that you can always turn down a job offer, so you might as well apply. This mentality made a major positive impact on my job-hunting approach. There’s a difference between recognizing that a door is closed and locking it before it has a chance to open.

You never know what might happen — in both your job search and life in general — so a big part of not getting too caught up in landing the perfect job is leaving your options open and allowing God to close doors according to His will rather than yours. Don’t be afraid to apply for jobs that don’t seem like a perfect fit for your interests or qualifications. 

Don’t assume the worst

In all honesty, this is my biggest flaw when searching for work.

I almost always consider the worst possible reality instead of the best — or even a middle ground. Thankfully, I’m surrounded by people who help me shake off this mindset, teaching me to give employers the benefit of the doubt and avoid jumping to conclusions about why they don’t respond to inquiries or acknowledge my applications. My recurrent mistake of taking rejections in the job hunt personally only fostered bitterness, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

It took me time to realize that I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. Many factors are likely at play that have nothing to do with my candidacy. Simplify your job hunt approach by giving God your best and leaving the rest to Him, even if He closes a door.

Keep learning

I tend to adopt a pass-fail mindset when it comes to work. If I get an interview or job offer, I feel like I’ve passed, and if I don’t, I feel like I’ve failed. However, learning isn’t a pass-or-fail process. A habit of continuous learning — whether through asking questions of potential employers, researching companies, or meeting new people via networking — helps combat the pass-fail mindset and ensure productivity while looking for work.

If you’re like me, you may also benefit from routinely assessing your mindset to improve your response to your circumstances.

Pray and surrender

Job hunting can so quickly become a very personal, isolating situation. I’ve struggled immensely with the need to separate my own worth from my lack of employment — something that everyone else sees in all its illogical glory and yet becomes extremely difficult to resist when you’re feeling stuck without a job for an extended time.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:26-27 to “look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?”

The only way to find true peace amid such uncertainty is to go to the source of all peace. I have a few go-to prayers that I return to each day I don’t have a job, to keep my unemployment in perspective and reiterate the need to rely on God. I highly recommend the Litany of Trust and Magnificat with Mary, both written by the Sisters of Life, as well as the Surrender Novena. These three sources are a gentle, consistent reminder that we are not alone in our trials and need only have recourse to God, our rock, who will provide all we need.