To ask if anyone actually finds job hunting fun or exciting?

[MyHeartyBlueShaker]

I know most people find looking for jobs stressful and exhausting but does anyone out there genuinely enjoy it? Exploring new opportunities, imagining fresh starts, or just the thrill of seeing what’s out there - do you find any part of job hunting fun or exciting?

Or am I completely alone in thinking there’s something energising about the process (even with all the rejections and waiting involved)? Would love to hear if anyone else feels the same - or why you think I’m totally unreasonable!

Are you mad?

Absolute lunacy. Must be troll post

When I haven't had a job and I'm looking for a job I absolutely hate it it's endless horrible and you never know if there's going to be an end to it. When I'm in a secure job that I don't hate and I'm looking for other opportunities I love it. I love the whole process I love applying, I love interviews I love getting new jobs and contracts.

Not even slightly. I have an interview today for a job I KNOW I can do. I’m absolutely dreading it, spending an hour thinking of examples to meet specific questions for a job I’ve done for 10 years. I wish I could just show them my work and let them decide if they want me.

Being in a secure job definitely takes the pressure off and makes the process more enjoyable - it’s more about exploring opportunities than desperately needing something. It’s interesting that you love interviews too, they’re often the part people dread most.

I wish I did! I've underachieved my whole life for the simple fact that interviews for me are hell on earth so I take the easiest and least stressful option. Rejection never feels good either. So no.

Christ no.

Good luck!

I've worked at a jobcenter for 6 years. (Full disclosure: in Denmark, insured unemployed so sightly different setup) In all that time I've had one (amazing) client with your attitude!

I think if you feel confident about your employability, and you are applying from a secure place (ie you have a nice job you’re happy to stay in if hunting doesn’t work out) then it could be fun. Not the CV/application rounds/interview parts but the looking at what’s out there part.

However by definition most job hunters are coming from a position where they are not confident, and/or hate their current job, or are unemployed - as most happy employees stay and don’t job hunt.

It's like ending a relationship and going on a dating app. I am always filled with hope and optimism, same for the first few dates. I do enjoy an interview to be honest. They are also similar to a date!

After months of watching and helping DD look for a job after finishing college, I can quite honestly say that no, I don't find it in the least bit exciting or enjoyable. It was soul destroying. Luckily, she finally managed to get a full time retail job which she is really liking and is great at.

I don't hate it, I'm pretty good at it, but if you tell me "you'll never have to do it again" I won't be devastated, I actually think I'll be pretty ok.

I love an interview! I do minimal preparation and just wing it and be myself in the hope I will charm them into an offer. I'm pretty honest, I say when I don't have experience in certain aspects, so it's up to them whether they want to give me a chance to learn on the job. I am very actively searching at the moment as I have recently been made redundant, and yesterday I applied for something quite a distance away, in the hope I can just go and see them and work out if the travel is going to be a problem. It's all experience. I do enjoy it!

I used to in my late teens/early 20s. Job ads were like a catalogue for different directions my life could go and it was cool. I didn’t like interviews that much but didn’t mind them.

That was 20 years ago though, I’m not sure how I’d feel about it now!

Not the job search but I do really enjoy an interview.

There's probably something wrong with me but I love the challenge and sit there mentally going ask me your most difficult questions. I'm a thrive under pressure person and tend to answer the worst stiff best for some reason.

If you're in a secure job and just testing the waters for something new, I feel it can be enjoyable. You have to get all psyched up for interviews, brush up your CV and your wardrobe and I think this helpfully shifts you into thinking what you want out of your life and where you're going. Getting feedback on you and your skills from an objective source I feel is really valuable and a precious source of self improvement. It's different if you have no job or have to move, then there is that awful element of panic and scarcity. I am good in job interviews but the problem is then that I don't actually like it once I start..

I love job hunting. I should've worked in recruitment. Dh is currently thinking of a new job so I send him loads of links.

I do! I love it. The thrill of the chase, the ultimate dopamine hit for a ADHDer like me. I get bored easily and frequently apply for jobs and have done many interviews and been offered (not always taken) some great jobs in my time. I love refreshing my emails waiting for an interview/job offer or even a rejection is fine. I enjoy interviews and barely prep just completely be myself. Totally see where you're coming from OP!

I've only ever job hunted while being somewhere I was desperate to get away from, therefore the stress and pressure on nailing the interview is huge and unenjoyable.

Utter relief while working my notice, before the treadmill starts again.

Hugely envious of people who have found a career they love. I hate mine, but normal life expenses means retraining and starting on £25k - £30k is pie in the sky.

It’s ok unless you are worried about finding one and are having endless rejections. The shine goes off the process pretty quickly.

I used to, but not anymore. Its not down to the market changing, but more the HR teams you deal with. Where so many of the processes are now automated, they are just impersonal and crap. Once upon a time you went for an interview and if you didn't get the job HR would call you and thank you for your time and you felt valued. I recently had 5 interviews for a single role, and then just an automated email telling me "my experience didn't match the role"...Just shit

I never used to mind it particularly, but now it terrifies me. Because the market has completely changed, there are hardly any 'decent' jobs, everything is low paid or zero hours. Companies want the world on a stick and pay a pittance. I'm looking for a new job and it's really scary out there. If I could, I'd look for work in Europe instead. Sadly I'm not eligible.
Wonder if things are the same elsewhere in the country. I'm in the north.

Plus the application process for most jobs is genuinely scary. Someone on another thread mentioned competencies for a supermarket job. I work in the CS and don't think I'd get another CS job, the application process is so far beyond what I'm capable of now.

I think even when you are in a job it still isn’t pleasant as you are probably desperately trying to leave the job you are in but trying not to put yourself in a position where you are possibly going to go from the frying pan into the fire and you feel under a lot of pressure to make the right decision.

Then the thought of starting in a new place and having to prove yourself all over again and wondering what lies ahead of you in terms of office politics etc etc

There is also the fact that in interviews some employers don’t tell you the truth about the work / project that you are possibly being hired for so you have to be very careful what you ask them in interviews, you need information but asking them too many questions can put them off

There is also the fear that your current employer will find out that you are looking to move and start making your life difficult