Episode 31: Collaborate and Conquer: Discovering Joy in the Job Search

Nikki welcomes Dr. Danielle McGeough and they discuss the stress seniors feel balancing finals, jobs, internships, memories, and a job search. Danielle shares her trajectory from a communication media degree and speech coaching to earning a PhD, returning to UNI, getting tenure, then reconsidering “what’s next” and returning to speaking. They explore using structure and clear criteria to narrow applications, plus creating systems to make the processes easier. Danielle contrasts habits with intentional ritual, proposing cozy, sensory “RISE” rituals to make applications easier and meaningful, and encourages doing the search with friends, celebrating micro-wins, and building resilience to rejection.