Ain't nothin' worse than spending countless hours looking for a job, pouring over the want-ads, scouring the job boards, writing (and re-writing) resumes and cover letters -- only to receive more canned rejection letters. Or worse yet, no replies at all. As another day goes by, followed by another sleepless night, your job hunting efforts become an exercise in fear and panic.

Hold on now, baby! Don’t let your feelings of impending doom define your job search strategy. Step back, take a deep breath and reassess. What you're doing isn't working -- and neither will you if you don't shake out of the funk you're in. You "got it bad, and that ain't good."

Job searching may be painful, but it's not terminal. You will get past this bout of unemployment and you will work again. Blues legend, Muddy Waters, who overcame his own harsh, brutal life experiences, once wrote, "Oh you know I won't be blue always, you know the sun is gonna shine in my back door someday.” He was right.

Ever since Blues music first developed in the fields of the Mississippi Delta, it has given vent to frustration, pain and fear -- with passionate humanity. The early Blues men and women offer simple, but poignant lessons about surviving disappointment and frustration. Bill Dahl, writing for the Blues Foundation, observes, "The Blues is as honest a musical form as it is uplifting. The Blues is life -- with all its ups and downs intact."

The job search, too, is wrought with ups and downs. You’re well aware of the "downs;" here are some tips from the Blues masters to help you find the "ups:"

"You can't get what can be had if you ain't got what it takes."
- Betty Hall Jones

Get straight with yourself that you have some value. Being out of work has nothing to do with your skills and abilities -- you kept those when you left your job. If you choose to emphasize your need of a job in your written and verbal communications, you'll sabotage your search. Sure you need a job, but hiring managers are more interested in what they need, not what you need. The fact that you need a job is not a good reason to hire you. It's important (even critical) to you, but hiring managers want to know the skills, competencies and capabilities you will bring to the job -- your value. If you don't believe you have any value, then you shouldn't expect others to believe it either.

"I'll have to forget it and let this trouble pass, I wonder sometimes how long my troubles gonna last."
- Howlin' Wolf

Your job search is temporary -- it won't last forever. You can expect your job search to reap many more negative than positive responses. Everyone you contact will not be able to hire you. If it helps, write the word "no" on a sheet of paper 99 times. Then write the word "yes.” The next time you receive a rejection, cross off one "no." And be happy because you're getting closer to the "yes.” If you have a bad week with say, 10 rejection letters and five phone hang-ups, don't be disappointed -- you accumulated 15 "no's." You're really flying now.

"You can't lose what you ain't never had."
- Muddy Waters

Losing out on a prospective job offer is disappointing, but if you worry about what might have been, you'll sap your energy -- and it will show. Accept that being turned down is a normal part of growing up and a common occurrence in the real world. An unfavorable decision is not a reflection of you or your abilities. Somebody out there wants what you have to bring. If you don't think so, then there's not much point in looking, is there?

"I be's troubled, I be all worried in mind; yeah and I'm never satisfied, and I just can't keep from cryin'."
- Muddy Waters

Acknowledge that it's okay to feel sad, frustrated, resentful, guilty, vulnerable. These are natural human emotions. A job loss is as high on the stress scale as a divorce or a death in the family. Learn how to manage your feelings. Read Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' classic, "On Death and Dying" or William Bridges' "Transitions.” Or if you need to, set aside one day a week as "Ain't It Awful" day. Promise yourself that you'll spend the day moaning about your worries and woes. It will give you something to look forward to -- and it may make you feel better. The Blues is about "howlin', screamin' and wailin'. That's why it lifts you up.

"They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad; Wednesday's worse, and Thursday's also sad."
- T-Bone Walker

How are you spending your days? Create a schedule that identifies specific job search activities you want to do and when you want to do them. For example, you might set aside Mondays for responding to job postings, Tuesdays for researching companies, Wednesdays for networking meetings and so on (don't forget "Ain't It Awful" day). Stick to the plan. The more you experience progress, the more positive you'll feel and therefore the more motivated you'll be.

"I'm gonna change my way of living, and that ain't no bluff; why I'm thinkin' about changing the way I'm gonna strut my stuff."
- Ethel Waters

Develop a job search style in harmony with your lifestyle. Spend your evenings and weekends with your family or friends (or doing whatever you do). When it's time to get back to your job search, then do it. Stay on schedule, but allow time for non-search activities too. You need occasional breaks. Plan an afternoon for working out at the gym, visiting a museum or just reading a good book. If you schedule it, you won't feel guilty -- you'll be doing what you planned to do -- and you'll have more energy when you return to your job search.

"Nobody knows you when you're down and out."
- Bessie Smith

Going from an office full of people to being home alone every day can be very isolating. Try getting out of the house in the morning -- go to the library, set a breakfast meeting or attend a seminar. Consider volunteering your services to a worthy organization. The contact with others will help you feel more engaged and may provide needed networking contacts -- or at least some new friends. Blues prodigy Robert Johnson sang, "When you got a good friend, they will stay right by your side.” You could use that. Look for another "unemployed" partner with whom you can share your job search strategy.

"I can't lay around here, be worried with this trouble no more."
- Howlin' Wolf

Stay away from the TV (and the refrigerator). You can live without the daytime soaps and game shows -- and the snacks that go along with them. Even if you stay tuned to the news, you'll only hear stories that reinforce that the economy is in the toilet, more layoffs are occurring and the unemployment rate is rising. It’s easy to let the numbers get you down (even though the unemployment rate is not an accurate measure of hiring). When was the last time you heard a news story about people getting hired? It happens -- but success doesn't make news, tragedy does. So while you cannot control the news stories, you can control the remote "off" button.

"Why there's a change in the weather, there's a change in the sea, so from now on there'll be a change in me."
- Ethel Waters

If your strategy is not working, change it. Don’t keep doing more of the same thing. The quantity of jobs for which you apply is not nearly as important as the quality of them. You don't need a lot of jobs; you just need one. Focus on the organizations that would be of interest to you as places to work. Develop your list, then tell yourself: “One of these lucky companies is going to get me.” Share your list with friends and acquaintances to see if they know anyone who works at any of the companies -- someone who could help point you to a potential hiring manager. Or research some articles to see what's been written about the companies on your list -- look for names in the articles and write to them. The point is, you need to try something different. If you're using the same strategies you used five years ago, they're not likely to be effective today.

"You know it be rainin' this minute and the next minute you look up and you'll see sunshine."
- Lightnin' Hopkins

Recognize the upside. It’s unlikely that you'll have such a block of time to yourself again, so try to make the most of it. Use the opportunity to reconnect with people with whom you've lost touch. Take a class to brush up on a needed skill. Spend time with your family -- don't squander it by showing them how worried you are. They want you back the way you were. Don’t mess up everything else in your life, just because of this career setback. You will be working again soon enough.

To survive the job search blues, you need doggedness and determination. Bluesman Joe Lewis Walker, singing about the obstacles he had to overcome in his career, wrote:

"I'm a true blues survivor, I'm proud I am
I tried a little bit of this and a little bit of that
Searching for something that would be right for me
Tryin' to find some place where I belong at."

By keeping the Blues alive, as it were, the Blues were keeping him alive.

"Oh, I'll survive, baby, I'll survive."
- B.B. King

And you know, baby, so will you.

© 2003, Career Planning and Management, Inc., Boston, MA. All rights reserved.