From the course: Job Search Strategies

Managing the search process

From the course: Job Search Strategies

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Managing the search process

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Most people approach the job search by looking for jobs online and applying to them haphazardly. This can be a big waste of time. It's important to actually try and manage the job search as if it were a job. You want the relevant opportunities coming to you. Organizing and focusing your search will help make this happen. It's useful to think of Pareto's Principle, or the 80/20 rule. In the case of job seeking I find that most people spend 80% of their time online job searching and the other 20% connecting with people or networking. You want to flip this strategy so it is more effective. You want to focus 20% of your time online and 80% reaching out to people to discover unpublished positions. To do this, you have to have systems in place. First, I recommend you set up a job search tracking tool. We've provided a worksheet that you can use as you're researching and applying to jobs. This worksheet helps you track your resume submissions, networking contacts, interviews. It also includes a sheet to list helpful career websites. There are also services online that will help you to track your job, like virtualjobcoach.com. This online service provides easy web access and sends you text message alerts for follow-ups. There is a free version to get you started and a fee-based service for extras. Once you have a system in place to record your activity, you will want to set aside specific times to work on your job search. If you're not working a full-time job now, you should expect to spend forty hours a week on your search. If you are working, but really want to make a change I recommend you dedicate at least five to ten hours a week. This may seem like a lot, but the investment of your time does pay off. Job searching requires patience, energy, concentration, and confidence. By organizing your job search, you will spend less time on searching and more time on being effective.

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