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Changing Your Job Hunt Outlook
How to fight the 'doom and gloom' and keep going |
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Editor's note:
Interviewer: Public Health Hiring Help A couple weeks ago, PHHH brought you the guidance of The Public Health Burnout Coach, Marissa McKool, MPH, for all things networking. With the great feedback we received from this collaboration, we have decided to explore other topics related to our mental and emotional interactions within the job hunt. After all, the job hunt isn’t as simple as dragging and dropping resume after resume. It’s taxing, time-consuming, and turbulent. Today’s topic is a biggie—how do we maintain perspective, clarity, and drive when there is so much anxiety and uncertainty swirling around us? How do we keep the present moment in mind without letting it become all-consuming and totally demoralizing? These are tough questions. Each day, there seems like there is some new setback in public health echoing in the abyss of social media, breaking our hearts just a little more. You have the experience necessary to make a difference but it can seem like the job market is no longer a hospitable place for public health knowledge, skills, and abilities. While it has been a uniquely hard year for public health, maybe not all hope is lost. Maybe that’s just what’s being shouted the loudest. Marissa McKool, the Public Health Burnout Coach, is back to guide us in how to find balance and positive self-talk in today’s public health landscape. PHHH: What has it been like being the Public Health Burnout Coach this year? What are common themes you’ve seen and talked about with clients? MM: This year has been both heavy and hopeful. Public health professionals are carrying enormous stressors—layoffs, funding cuts, political instability, and the constant pressure to serve under impossible conditions. A theme I hear again and again is people questioning whether they can stay in public health, and if so, for how long. It’s such a painful question, because so many are deeply passionate about this field and don’t want to leave. At the same time, I’ve witnessed incredible community, advocacy, and resilience. People are coming together to support one another—creating public health–specific job boards, like PHHH, offering free services, and finding ways to lift each other up in the midst of uncertainty. The most common challenges I’m working through with clients are: setting boundaries at work when there’s always more to do with fewer resources, processing the anger, fear, and anxiety about what’s happening (and what might come next), and learning how to truly “shut off” from both work and the political landscape. As hard as it is, we have to rest and recharge so we can keep going and keep trying. PHHH: How does the media—both the news and social platforms like LinkedIn—play into the ‘doom spiral’ we feel trapped in? Most people don’t know that our brains have a built-in negativity bias—constantly scanning for what could go wrong. Thousands of years ago, that kept us alive. It was far more important to remember which berry could kill us than which one tasted good. Survival depended on noticing danger. Fast forward to today: most of us aren’t fighting to literally survive each day, but that part of our brain is still running. And media outlets—whether news or social—take full advantage of it. That’s why the content that gets published, shared, and goes viral is overwhelmingly negative. It can start to feel like the world is crumbling, when in reality, your feed is just skewed. It’s like receiving a community needs assessment that only includes negative data while leaving out the neutral and positive. You’re not getting the full picture. That’s why I always recommend being intentional about who you follow and what news sources you consume. Positive, hopeful, change-driven stories are happening every day—but you won’t see them unless you deliberately seek them out. The same is true on LinkedIn. The platform often amplifies scarcity and comparison, even unintentionally. Think about it: most people who post are at one end of the spectrum—either celebrating a promotion or new job or sharing about being laid off and struggling to find work. What we don’t see are the vast majority of people in the middle—those who are steady, doing meaningful work, but not posting about it. In fact, less than 1% of LinkedIn users post at all. So when you scroll, remember: your feed is not reality. It’s a highlight reel. It’s a tiny slice of a much bigger picture. PHHH: So who do you follow to get a good dose of empowerment and hope in the midst of so much turmoil? What helps you stay hopeful? MM: It’s less about who you follow and more about how you engage. Creating a balanced news and social media feed takes intention. Here’s what I do: If I see ads or posts that are fear-mongering, I click “not interested.” If I see positive or empowering content, I interact with it—like, comment, or share. The great thing about algorithms is that they feed you more of what you engage with. You actually have the power to shift your own feed by choosing what you say yes to and what you say no to. I’m also not afraid to unfollow people. It’s never personal—it’s about protecting my focus. That doesn’t mean I bury my head in the sand; it means I’m creating balance between the hard realities and the hopeful stories. I also make sure to contribute by posting or reposting positive things myself. For example, when someone shared that Colorado has seen the lowest teen suicide rates since 2007, I reposted it so more people could see that good news. And while it might sound like something I’d say just because I’m a coach, it’s the truth: I stay hopeful by staying grounded in the tools I teach. I use them every single day because they work. They don’t prevent me from ever feeling stress, anxiety, or fear—but they keep me from getting stuck there. One of my favorites is something I call “The Pride Jar”. It started as a daily practice of writing down one thing I was proud of to train my brain to notice the positive. Over time, it evolved into my “Celebration Jar”. Now I write down something worth celebrating—sometimes it’s a huge client breakthrough, sometimes it’s a contract I secured, and sometimes it’s something happening in the world. It’s a small ritual, but it keeps hope alive. I have a whole podcast episode that walks you through how to use this tool (listen here). PHHH: But, obviously, we can’t just surround ourselves with only positive content, right? What does balance look like? MM: Exactly. Toxic positivity isn’t helpful either. Balance is about being intentional. I set limits on my media consumption, but I don’t avoid reality. I want to stay informed, I just don’t let every headline hijack my nervous system. For me, that looks like giving myself 10 minutes in the morning to scan the top headlines—then I’m done for the day. Not much changes in 24 hours, and if something truly earth-shattering happens, I’ll hear about it organically through others or my feed. On social media, I intentionally look for both updates and positive stories so I’m not only consuming one side of the picture. I like to think of it like nutrition: if you eat only junk food, your body feels it. But if you eat only kale, you’re also missing vital nutrients. Balance is making sure you’re consuming enough reality to stay grounded, and enough hope to keep going. PHHH: At least from my observations, there feels like two major demoralizing “agents” in public health. There’s the broader challenges—what we see in the news—but there are also the personal experiences, like rejections. In fact, a question I’ve been asked several times is ‘What am I doing wrong in my job hunt?’ How can we shift our individual internal monologues to give us more patience and grace during a long, frustrating job hunt? MM: This is such an important question. First, we have to acknowledge that the public health job market has shifted dramatically: fewer positions, more competition, and constant uncertainty. That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible to land a job. Just in the past few months, I’ve had clients secure Executive Director roles and Faculty positions. Like I said in our chat about networking, getting a job is about selling yourself. And, again, I know many public health professionals cringe at the word “sales,” thinking it’s manipulative. But sales isn’t that at all—it’s simply helping someone get what they need. For example, if I want a minivan, and someone helps me find the right one, that’s sales. If they try to push a sports car on me, that’s not. In the job search, it’s the same principle. You are helping an organization get what they need: a person who can do the job they’re advertising—well. But here’s the key: if you don’t believe you’re capable of doing the job, you’ll struggle to convince anyone else. You have to sell yourself first on your abilities, then sell the organization on why you’re the right fit. That means shifting your focus from “I need a job” to “What does this organization need, and how can I deliver it?” When your mindset is about meeting their needs with confidence, rejections don’t sting as much, and they don’t make you want to quit. Rejection hurts when we tie it to our self-worth. Have confidence in your value before the organization validates it. Then, rejection becomes data to help you sell yourself better, not proof that you’re not enough. PHHH: I also think it’s easy to measure progress in rejections, interviews, and job offers. But that seems to miss so much else of what is happening in job applicants’ efforts, right? How can we reframe our perspective on progress to better represent our efforts while also angling towards the ultimate goal? MM: If you focus only on long-term outcomes and think in binary terms—“Did I get the job or not?”—you’ll end up feeling disappointed for the entire job search. It’s like asking, “Did we do a good job addressing COVID?” and only measuring success by whether there were zero cases. You’d miss so much: reduced transmission rates, lower death rates, and the valuable lessons learned along the way. In public health, we know the importance of evaluating multiple outcomes: short-term, medium-term, and process measures. The same principle applies to job searching. Measure progress beyond just the final outcome. Process measures might include how many applications you submitted, how many networking events you attended, or how many informational interviews you scheduled. Short- and medium-term outcomes could be qualitative: how much your cover letters improved, how your outreach skills developed, or how your confidence grew in connecting with others. By broadening your definition of success, you give yourself credit for the work you’re actually doing, feel better because of it, and build momentum toward the ultimate goal. PHHH: Any last words of advice about self-talk and perspective in the job hunt? MM: Burnout in the job search and burnout on the job share one key factor: both happen when we believe our success is out of our control. You can focus on posts about people struggling to get a job and let that convince you that you won’t succeed. Or, you can focus on the incredible value you can bring to an organization. You can let 10 rejections convince you that you’ll never get a job—or you can stay excited about every opportunity you apply for. What you focus on grows. When you fixate on things outside your control, you feel powerless. When you focus on your skills, your experience, and the possibilities ahead, you create momentum and opportunity. Use your focus and energy wisely! ■
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