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5 Wellness Tips for Your Job Search, with Shannon Aniciete

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You need a job and you need it now. So you spend hours staring at a computer screen, stressing over the perfect resume and cover letter, and hitting “quick apply.” But Find Your Dream Job guest Shannon Aniciete says you’re doing yourself and your health a disservice by approaching it this way. Shannon has five tips for managing your wellness while looking for your next position, including organization to relieve stress, celebrating your successes, connecting with others, and doing things that bring you joy. 

About Our Guest:

Shannon Aniciete is the director of business career services for the School of Business at Portland State University. Her team helps students achieve meaningful career outcomes.

Resources in This Episode:

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 508:

5 Wellness Tips for Your Job Search, with Shannon Aniciete

Airdate: July 2, 2025

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Ask Google for a list of the most stressful events in life, and job loss always pops up near the top.

Even if you didn’t lose your job, looking for work can take a toll on your health.

Shannon Aniciete is here to share five wellness tips for your job search.

She’s the director of business career services for the School of Business at Portland State University. Her team helps students achieve meaningful career outcomes.

And she joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Well, let’s get going, Shannon. When we talk about wellness in a job search, what do you mean exactly?

Shannon Aniciete:

Yeah, so wellness can mean a lot of things to a lot of people.

How I wanna define wellness is quite simply taking care of your whole self. Recognizing that you are more than your job. A job is a really important part of our identities, but in order to show up at that job, either the one you have or the one you’re searching for, it’s really important to take care of yourself.

So that’s really at its core what I mean by wellness.

Mac Prichard:

And why is wellness important when you’re looking for work?

Shannon Aniciete:

Yeah, so wellness is important because job searching is stressful, like you opened with. It’s full of uncertainty, grief, self-doubt, excitement, energy, and also sometimes anxiety and depression.

And so, prioritizing wellness will really help sometimes navigate those very deep emotions that are normal for us to have.

Mac Prichard:

You talked about how putting wellness first can help you manage emotions.

How can it help with better job search results?

Shannon Aniciete:

So when you are doing a job search, it’s pretty natural that emotions will become a part of what you look for, how you show up in an interview, how you network. And so, being able to identify maybe some roadblocks that might be getting in your way.

Maybe it’s an insecurity about a skill you have and so you might not say that in an interview. Or you might not want to reach out to somebody because you don’t think you are ready or qualified.

And so really being able to pay attention to what is coming up and to have some strategies, which I hope to share, around how to navigate those will help you do better, will help you have more success in getting that job.

Mac Prichard:

You work with a lot of candidates, Shannon, and many people when they do a job search, they focus just on resumes, applications, and interviews.

Do you find that people overlook wellness when looking for work, and why do you think this happens?

Shannon Aniciete:

They absolutely do. And that’s really why I wanted to talk about this. Because I think resumes, cover letters, and informational interviews are kind of the easy, tactile things that we hear so much about in career development, in job searching. And wellness is not talked about enough. So I kind of wanted to break that up a little bit and bring that to the forefront.

And I think the reason it’s not is because more often than not, I think we put ourselves as individuals last. And the job search can take priority in terms of feeling like, well, if I’m not being productive of applying to a certain amount of jobs or doing all of these checklists of things, then I’m not being productive in my job search.

Where I would interrogate that and argue if you’re not prioritizing your well-being, you’re also not doing a good job in your job search.

Mac Prichard:

Why do you think people put themselves last, especially when they’re looking for work?

Shannon Aniciete:

Fear. Shame. Societal expectations around what looks good. And it’s unfortunately, in society, I think, easy to put ourselves last when financial barriers might be a real thing. When people might really need money for a job, and that’s a reality, and so wellness can feel like a luxury, when again, I would argue that it’s not. It’s really a basic need.

Mac Prichard:

You mentioned stress, depression as signs that someone might not be paying attention to wellness while doing a job search.

What are some other signs that a job seeker might not be taking care of their well-being?

Shannon Aniciete:

Isolation is another really big one. So trying to do a job search alone. Not asking for help, not reaching out to people. Sitting kind of on your own behind the computer, mass applying to jobs, that’s probably one of the other key indicators I would say; if I heard somebody talking about that, that they might not be prioritizing their wellness and their whole self.

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s talk about how to prioritize wellness, and you’ve got 5 tips you’re sharing with us today.

The first one is staying organized. What do you have in mind here, Shannon?

Shannon Aniciete:

Yes. I put this first because I think organization is overlooked as a wellness factor. But what I mean by staying organized is, a job search, like we’ve said, is stressful. So organization can help sometimes with that stress.

And more specifically, what I mean is treat a job search like your everyday job.

Schedule time in your day to do the things related to your job search. So that might be an hour, maybe you have a full-time job, so an hour after work, you’re gonna spend on job search-related tasks. That could be finding somebody to connect with, polishing your resume, and then after that hour, you’re gonna stop and you’re gonna do something else.

Another strategy for staying organized is having a spreadsheet, quite simply, of tracking different activities you’re doing. Whether that is tracking who you’ve met with for networking, or tracking the jobs you’ve applied for, and do you have a connection with them, and timelines.

So, things to stay organized to help you kind of contain the job search into quantifiable pieces of time within your day that you can then stop and do something else.

Mac Prichard:

Some people, when looking for work, think that they have to pull out all the stops, and perhaps there are financial reasons why.

But what’s the benefit of spending just a defined amount of time on a job search in terms of your wellness versus working, you know, burning the midnight oil and spending 12 hours or more looking for work?

Shannon Aniciete:

The thing that comes to mind for me is quality over quantity.

So doing less will actually produce better quality results versus just sending out hundreds of things or spinning the wheel doing a lot of things. You’re probably going to do a lot of things less well in that case.

Mac Prichard:

And how does tracking your activity help, not only with your job search, but with your wellness?

Shannon Aniciete:

It’s overwhelming, the amount of things we do in a job search, or the amount of steps that are required. So if you think about a single job, there might be the application period, and then 2 to 3 interviews, and networking that’s involved.

And so it can be a lot to remember, when you might be in several steps of this. And so, staying organized is just really a memory trick.

Even myself, I need that to remind myself of the steps because it can be really overwhelming.

Mac Prichard:

The second of your five job search wellness tips is to celebrate your successes.

Why is it important to recognize your wins, even the small ones, when you look for work?

Shannon Aniciete:

Because it’s overwhelming to look for a job. And if we don’t pause and celebrate every step, we might feel really defeated and might not feel like we’re making progress.

So, celebrating every success, whether that’s getting the first interview, or getting a second interview, or getting your application accepted, meeting a connection at a company that you want.

All those little things really need to be celebrated and acknowledged as wins along the way so that your persistence and fortitude in the job search can continue.

Mac Prichard:

And do you celebrate every step along the way, or should you highlight certain accomplishments? What’s your experience there?

Shannon Aniciete:

My recommendation is to celebrate everything. Primarily because saying that means that everybody will actually do it. So I say it because I think if I don’t say celebrate everything, people are just gonna like only think that when they got the job, that’s when they should celebrate.

And I would argue that you need to celebrate every little win to keep going.

Mac Prichard:

And how do you recommend people celebrate these wins?

Shannon Aniciete:

Yeah, it can be as simple as just acknowledging it with a close friend or somebody in your community. Sending them a text being like, “Oh, I got that interview.” Maybe posting on social media, if that’s exciting and something you enjoy. It could be quiet time with yourself. Maybe go and get your favorite beverage or treat yourself to a meal.

So it could look different for different people.

Mac Prichard:

Well, we’re gonna take a break, Shannon.

Stay with us. When we come back, Shannon Aniciete will continue to share her five wellness tips for your job search.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Shannon Aniciete.

She’s the director of business career services for the School of Business at Portland State University. Her team helps students achieve meaningful career outcomes.

And she joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Now, Shannon, before the break, we were talking about your five wellness tips for a job search.

And we talked about the importance of wellness when you look for work. And what a difference it can make in the outcome of your search.

And you shared two of your five tips. Let’s go into tip number 3, which is, you recommend that people reflect on opportunities for growth.

What, tell us more about this, Shannon. What do you have in mind here?

Shannon Aniciete:

Growth mindset is what I wanna leave listeners with. And that is, along the job search, there will be lots of opportunities to reflect on what went well, so that’s the celebrate part. But also what didn’t go how you expected. And that’s where growth mindset comes in.

So look for the opportunities when you maybe heard no, and that was disappointing. But was there something you can learn from that? Either about how you wanted to show up in that moment, or maybe about a connection you know you needed to have. Or maybe quite simply that it didn’t have anything to do with how you showed up, but might not have been a good fit.

So, looking at opportunities for growth and reflection along the way will again help with being able to sustain your persistence in a job search, and learn.

Mac Prichard:

Say more about growth mindset for listeners who might not be familiar with the term.

What does that mean?

Shannon Aniciete:

Growth mindset means that you’re looking at a no as an opportunity to learn something. And so more specifically, if I heard, “No, I didn’t get that speaking engagement,” I could simply just move on from that and not take anything from that.

Or I could say, okay, hmm, is there an opportunity for me to see about something I could have done differently when I tried out for that opportunity? Could I have focused on something different? Could I have potentially asked the person who told me no for feedback on is there anything you might recommend that I do differently?

This is something that I often suggest in a job search. When you hear a no, is just asking for feedback. Might not always get it, but when you do, it could really help you elevate your next opportunity.

Mac Prichard:

Some candidates get frustrated asking for feedback, they don’t hear back.

In your work with applicants, what have you seen be effective in getting feedback either from employers or other people who might say no to a candidate?

Shannon Aniciete:

Asking, quite honestly. Yes, you might hear no, and you might hear a very generalized response. But as long as you continue asking for that feedback, one person at least will give it to you.

And so that’s another growth opportunity. It can be really hard to ask for something and hear no multiple times, but it just takes one piece of feedback to help you elevate. So have the persistence and continue to ask.

Mac Prichard:

How does having a growth mindset help you with your wellness when you look for work?

Shannon Aniciete:

It helps really with that persistence and that, Howell term – separating a behavior or action from your identity.

So hearing no sometimes can feel like a rejection of who we are as an individual, whereas if we look at growth as a no because of maybe an action or a behavior that didn’t show up the way I wanted, we can help separate that from ourselves versus a behavior that we could change.

Mac Prichard:

What difference does that make to your health when you take that approach?

Shannon Aniciete:

Makes a big difference. Identity, who we are, hearing no, rejection, all of those again are, are core, core things that we navigate in the world. And really helping find ways to remember who you are is okay, no matter what you hear; that just because you hear no, it doesn’t mean that you are a bad person, is so important. And again, just continuing to have persistence and continuing to try.

Mac Prichard:

The fourth of your five job search wellness tips is to reach out to others.

Looking for work can be isolating. How does connecting with others help?

Shannon Aniciete:

Like you said, it’s isolating. So, an opportunity to combat that is quite simply reaching out to people in your community.

And by that, I don’t just mean the people who are working in jobs that you want. I mean, start small. Start with friends, start with communities that you might be a part of. Let them know that you’re looking. People want to help other people.

And so it can feel good for people in your community to offer even the littlest of support. Whether that’s another connection or whether that’s a piece of advice on what you might say, or being your cheerleader to remind you what you’re great at.

Using community, being in community, is really important to maintaining your wellbeing. And not just in the job search, but in the having fun. In the taking time outside of doing your resume or LinkedIn to remember that you’re a whole being.

Mac Prichard:

Sometimes when people, especially have been out of work for some time, they might, as you said in the first segment, feel some shame because of that.

How do you recommend reaching out to others if you might be experiencing those emotions?

Shannon Aniciete:

That’s where I really suggest start small. So start with people close to you. And it doesn’t have to be right away about getting help with your job search. It could be catching up. So start with “What’s going on, what’s going on for you?” Listen to them, what’s going on for them.

And take time to rebuild that relationship. And I find, naturally, that evolution helps open people up and helps open the individual up to maybe start sharing some of that more vulnerable, “I’m looking, I really need support.”

So that’s, that’s really how I suggest, is starting small with people that you’re closest with.

Mac Prichard:

How about your professional contacts? If you’re networking with others, with people in the industries where you want to work or hope to transition into, sometimes that networking can feel overwhelming.

How have you seen job seekers reach out in ways that are more natural and less stressful?

Shannon Aniciete:

So, reaching out to ask other people about themselves is the best strategy.

So what I would say don’t do is don’t reach out and ask for a job. Number one tip.

But do reach out and ask, “Hey, I see you work at X company. I’m curious to learn more about what you do and how you like working there.” So, start with making it about the other person. People love to talk about themselves, and so that’s an opportunity to really invite somebody to share about themselves.

And in that, you can have a natural two-way conversation, where you get to share a little bit about you. Find commonalities, find interests. That’s really the best way to start.

Mac Prichard:

You’re obviously getting great professional knowledge from these conversations.

What about the wellness benefits of having these meetings?

Shannon Aniciete:

Yeah. It’s back to the community. You’re getting to find connections with somebody else and hear about their journey. Maybe you’ll learn tips on your own of how to stay sustained in your job search.

And also, it combats that isolation of a job search. Isolation is really one of the core things that I think gets in the way of wellness. And that’s why reaching out, connecting with people, is the opposite of that.

Mac Prichard:

The final of your five job search wellness tips, Shannon, is to do things that bring you joy.

What do you mean by that, and why is it important to do it?

Shannon Aniciete:

This is my favorite, and that’s why I wanted it to be the fifth tip.

And this can mean so many things. It can mean, simply for me, cuddling with my dog at the end of a day.

It could mean being with the people that you love and care about. Doing something fun with them, going out for a meal. Making that a priority, a regular scheduled priority. It could mean getting out in nature. We’re very lucky in the Pacific Northwest, if you’re listening from there, here, to have so much nature.

So it could mean a lot of different things, and I encourage listeners to take some time to reflect on things that bring them joy.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a terrific conversation. Now tell us, what’s next for you?

Shannon Aniciete:

I am just excited to continue to support the School of Business students. Our mission in the School of Business Career Center is to prepare and support all of our students in their career development journey.

We know the number one reason students are coming to college is to either start, change, or advance their career. And we want to be here along every step of the way for them.

Mac Prichard:

Well, I know that listeners can learn more about you and your work by visiting the Portland State University School of Business Career Center website, and that URL is https://www.pdx.edu/business/impact.


Now, Shannon, given all the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the ONE thing you want a listener to remember about your five wellness tips for a job search?

Shannon Aniciete:

You are more than your job search. And make sure to prioritize yourself.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be Jeremy Cline.

He’s a career, business, and executive coach.

Jeremy helps you identify your unique talents and values so you can accomplish more.

He also hosts the excellent Change Work Life podcast

You could easily create a long to-do list when you look for work.

But there are only so many hours in a day.

So you need to spend your time in ways that will help you find your next job easier and faster.

Join us next Wednesday when Jeremy Cline and I talk about three productivity hacks to streamline your job search.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer and editor is Matt Fiorillo. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.