Painful job search? Keep these things in mind

It's Work: Looking for your next big opportunity's exciting. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it takes work. Assuming you're still putting your all into your full-time position, you're likely exhausted when you arrive home. Maybe instead of giving an A+ effort all the time, give a B+. Leave at 5:30. Take a couple of those personal days that have been sitting in your account to focus on your search.

It Doesn't Happen Overnight: Even if you'd like to leave your company yesterday, the right opportunity for you probably isn't going to be the first one you come across. No, your dream job's not going to be knocking on your door tomorrow morning just because you updated your resume. Rather than despair over that fact, keep it mind as you plot out your search.

It's Full of Disappointment: There aren't enough inspirational quotes in the world to make you feel at peace with constant rejection during a job search. However, what will help is to spend just as much time networking a you do applying. The more connections you make, the higher the chances that you'll get to bypass the robot-stage of the process and get your resume in the right hands. Not to mention, the more human connections you have, the higher the odds you'll get real, valuable feedback.