Unemployment is a much studied phenomenon from the macro perspective, but how does it affect the individuals involved? What keeps them searching and what discourages them as they try to find a job?

Jing Zhu of HKUST and fellow authors Connie R. Wanberg and Edwin A. J. Van Hooft recruited individuals who were looking for work to record their daily attitudes and offer some fresh insights into this surprisingly understudied process.

One of the key results was that the job search experience is a rollercoaster ride even for the most committed individuals. Their perceived progress, emotions and belief in finding a job varied from day to day and could affect their effort the next day.

"We wanted to find out what happens within job searches from day to day and week to week. An understanding of this process is extremely important from both theoretical and practical perspectives. It may have implications for improving job seeker well-being and re-employment speed," they said.

Their subjects were 233 unemployed people who responded every Monday to Friday over three weeks to an online questionnaire that measured their state of mind, their assessment of progress in their job search and their effort in finding a job. The authors also factored in how important it was for each individual to find a job, since some had greater financial hardship or a greater sense of identity from their job.

Lower perceived levels of progress in the job search resulted in a more negative mood and less confidence in the ability to find a job, especially among those with a high degree of financial hardship. Unfortunately, those same people did not experience as significant a lift from a day of good progress as those in less difficult circumstances.

"Financial hardship is like an exacerbator: it strengthens the negative effect of low job search progress and weakens the positive effect of high progress. Although we must be careful about inferring causality, the results illustrate the daily job search challenges that some unemployed job seekers may experience," they said.

"It would be particularly useful for those with high financial hardship to engage in 'inoculation against setback' techniques, such as imagining possible setbacks and anticipating coping strategies."

A person's make-up could also provide clues on what motivates them to persist in their job search. Those who found it difficult to disengage from negative thoughts ("state"-oriented individuals) were more discouraged by poor progress and needed a positive mood to get motivated. Oddly enough, the authors said action-oriented people may be more motivated by a negative mood. They could temper their emotions, see work needed to be done, and get on with the task.

Whatever the motivating factors, a good day was inevitably followed by a day of spending less time on the search.

"We identified a pattern of job seekers' taking a break after perceiving they had made good progress but trying harder after they perceived less progress had been made. Our work with job seekers has led us to observe cases in which it is dysfunctional for individuals to take breaks after perceived progress, so it may be reasonable to warn job-seekers that there is this coasting tendency," they said.

A final notable finding was the limited amount of time that people actually spent looking for jobs. About 22 per cent spent less than 10 hours a week and the average was only 17.8 hours. Although the optimal time effort has not yet been determined, other research has shown a link between higher job search intensity and faster re-employment.

The authors said their findings suggest job-seekers could be guided to make more effective use of their time on a daily basis. Two ideas were to provide them with information on how they could structure their job search efforts, and connect them to networking groups to discuss how job-seekers could juggle their other responsibilities, such as family demands.