I’m sure we have all been there. You apply for a position; one you know you are qualified for and will have no problem being selected for.
Then a week goes by and you haven’t heard back. You start to get nervous, but you’re sure they are just busy, so you wait a little longer.
Then its two weeks.
Alright, so maybe you send them a message?
BAM! now you’re at three weeks and have no response still!
Now you’re stuck with all the work you’ve put off focusing on these responses and are even more worried than before!
This experience is all too common these days, as companies and groups find themselves far too busy, or strained for resources to pick out each individual intern when they have much more pressing matters to focus on. This is the experience I found myself in waiting to find out if I had been selected for my internship placement working with an election campaign.
While this is not the type of advice I planned to give through my placement, it is the advice I needed most when I was waiting for news on my position, and so I now aim to pass this advice on in hopes it will help someone else overcome their anxieties about waiting in either the academic or professional world.
Without further Ado, here are three ways that you can overcome wait times and make sure you come out of it ready to do your best work.
Step 1: Remember this position is not your entire life
I know, it may sound like common sense, but speaking from experience, when you’re reaching week four and haven’t heard a thing back yet, in your mind their silence becomes the most important thing. It’s this focus which can be a detriment to the rest of your work, as you can become far too focused in monitoring their responses, or to a more stressful degree become far too discouraged to do any further work until you have a response. While it is important to make sure you are keeping up with any responses, you cannot let this focus take over more time than needed, as it will only serve to create more stress later when you are forced to catch up with the work you set aside to await responses.
(Roundhouse Park, Toronto)
When I finally took a moment to breath, and realize that this placement was not all I had to focus on, I was able to enjoy my commute. This is why I say to Remember this position is not your entire life
Step 2: Set a plan to monitor your responses and stick to it.
While this may seem a tad counter-intuitive, as I just said to not focus heavily on their responses, this does not mean you can just ignore it until you are ready. That’s why you should make a schedule of when you will check your responses. Should there be any time sensitive aspects, such as required paperwork, or appointments you can get to them in a manageable amount of time if you keep track of when you will respond. What is important with this idea is to maintain a healthy balance between dedicating time each week to monitoring your responses, while making sure you do not let it act to the detriment of your other jobs.
(Michel Hogue's "Metis and the Medicine Line" the book I am currently reading for class)
Once I stopped worrying about my position, I had realized that I was falling behind in my readings. I made sure to schedule time for my placement, and responding to my supervisor, but also making sure I kept up with my studies. This is why I suggest that anyone reading this Set a plan to monitor your responses and stick to it.
Step 3: Whatever time you set aside, use it well.
So, we have reached the final step. You’ve calmed down, made sure to focus on other things and dedicated time to monitor responses and react. But how much time did you dedicate? An hour? Two? Was it only once per week or even more? Maybe you’ve dedicated an hour of your time to working on a current write up you’ve got to do? How much is the right amount of time? Well, this is a trick question. in truth it is up to you to determine how much to give each aspect of your work. The only baseline I can give is that more time does not always mean more work. Make sure you dedicate time that you know you can stay committed for, so that you will not lose momentum and waste any of your dedicated time.
(Me, at the end of my day, after finally starting my placement)
I had just finished my first day of my placement. I'd check my emails and finished some readings on my way in that morning. Even though I still had more work to do, I took some time to grab a coffee, and take this photo. I could have worked more, but I know I would have just gotten distracted. Besides, I have tomorrow, I have my schedule, and because of that, I can take some time to enjoy my day. That is why my final advice is to remember, Whatever time you set aside, use it well.
All Images taken by me, all subjects of photos belong to their respective owners