National Stress Awareness Day is upon us, and a recent study has revealed that the majority of the nation’s workers (84.6 per cent) admit that looking for a new job always or frequently makes them feel stressed. That’s according to a recent survey from CV-Library which also finds 83.5 per cent of professionals believe that job hunting stress is a real problem facing today’s workforce.
The study of 1,200 workers sought to discover the impact that job hunting has on today’s professionals and what it is that they find most challenging. Participants were asked to share the aspects of looking for a job that cause them to feel most stressed.
Respondents cited the following:
1. Finding a role that matches my needs – 72.2 per cent
2. Being rejected for roles that I’ve applied for – 59.4 per cent
3. Tailoring my CV and cover letter for each application – 58.6 per cent
4. Dealing with recruiters – 22.9 per cent
5. Having to take time out of work to attend interviews – 22.8 per cent
What’s more, professionals revealed the areas of job hunting that often leave them feeling disheartened. Not hearing anything back from an application (32.2 per cent), not finding any suitable roles (27.7 per cent) and being turned down for a role they really wanted (19 per cent) were the top reasons professionals were feeling discouraged during their search.
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library , comments, ‘Workplace stress is something we often hear about, but very rarely do we talk about the stress that can be caused as a result of job hunting. These feelings are very real, and it’s clear from the data that the nation’s professionals can become extremely disheartened when the job search becomes overwhelming.
‘Recruiting professionals play a huge role in a candidate’s job search, and at the end of the day both recruiter and candidate have a shared goal – to land them a job! As such, it’s vital that recruitment professionals are working with job hunters to aid their search and reduce unnecessary stress levels.’
In a bid to find a solution to their anguish, professionals were asked what they think can be done to combat job hunting stress. Two key measures were identified. Nearly half (43.5 per cent) of workers agreed that recruiters should always offer feedback, and a further 35.9 per cent say candidates should always be sent an acknowledgment email, even if their application isn’t successful.
Biggins concludes, ‘It’s clear from the data that job hunters are becoming increasingly put out by not hearing back from their applications. The role of recruiting professionals is to offer feedback, even if this is something as simple as an acknowledgment email letting them know their application wasn’t successful this time. Leaving candidates in the lurch is causing them to feel unnecessary tension, but sending an email or giving them a call to offer feedback doesn’t have to be a huge time consuming task and can really can help to put job hunters’ minds at ease!’
Further reading on employee stress
