Job hunting in the UK: How I went from anxiety to multiple offers

This piece is as much for you as it is for my past self. I want to share my job-hunting story with you.

When I first looked for a job in the UK a few years ago, I refreshed my email every few minutes to check for new OTs, VIs, or interviews. After passing one VI, I would scroll through Xiaohongshu daily, seeing who had received AC invitations and wondering why mine never came. I was so anxious that I forced myself to go to the gym just to distract myself from waiting for emails that might never arrive. After every final interview, my mind would spiral, playing out every possible scenario. My mental state was honestly not great.

When did things start to improve?
When I started reading.

Reading helped me slow down and immerse myself. I made myself read for an hour every day and gradually returned to a “long-term mindset.” I began reflecting on my job search more objectively. I actually had so much time to improve my CV, practise interviews, do mocks, build a story bank, review news, and develop business sense. But instead, I was spending hours mass-applying without reflecting on my failures—just feeling anxious and stuck in a vicious cycle.

So I started making a structured plan:

• 2 hours applying

• 1 hour refining my story bank

• 2 hours reading news and creating mind maps

• 1 hour practising “Walk me through your resume”

• 1 hour reviewing each interview failure (I highly recommend writing reflections right after every interview)

• 1 hour learning industry knowledge

Gradually, I noticed my self-introduction became smoother and more tailored to each role instead of sounding generic. I became deeply familiar with my story bank and could draw from it naturally. Even for roles where I lacked direct experience, I could confidently share my perspectives and connect them to my past experiences. With more industry knowledge, my technical understanding also improved.

Over time, I stopped caring so much about results and focused more on whether I had improved since the last interview. I even started to enjoy conversations with interviewers.

Then, offers started coming one after another.

Now, whenever I feel impatient at work—thinking “Why can’t I finish this report faster?” or “Can my boss recognise my progress sooner?”—I remind myself: step by step, slowly is actually the fastest way.

Time to go read again. 📚