258: How to Organize Your Job Search Time to Optimize Your Results

Today, we’re talking about organizing your job search. For some of you, this may be a foreign concept – why would I need organization to look at job boards? I just look at them and apply to as many jobs as I possibly can – right?

Wrong.

I’m not going to go into detail with specific job search strategies – I covered that in multiple other episodes.

In particular, I recommend episode #30 – Active vs. Passive Job Search Strategies: https://www.exclusivecareercoaching.com/posts/2019-01-16-030-active-vs-passive-job-search-strategies

And #251 – What Type of Job Search Should You Launch? http://exclusivecareercoaching.com/posts/2022-11-16-251-what-type-of-job-search-should-you-launch

Rather, what I want to cover today is the structure of your job search…dedicating time for your job search and using that time to your best advantage.

Here are five tips for structuring your job search:

1.    Calendar in time for your job search.

As I cover in episode #251, I encourage employed job seekers to dedicate 5 hours per week to their job search, and unemployed job seekers to dedicate 30 hours per week to their job search.

Begin by deciding the blocks of time you can consistently devote to job search.

For example:

Employed job search

           Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Wednesdays – lunch will be devoted to attending my professional association meetings one week, then scheduling lunch meetings with people in my network on the other Wednesdays. (May need to be another weekday, before work, or after work instead)

Sunday evenings from 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Unemployed job search

           Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. noon; 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

2.    Calendar in how you will spend your job search time.

As a reminder, here’s how I recommend your job search time be divided, depending on your level of experience:

If right out of college: 75% passive; 25% active

If mid-career: 50% passive; 50% active

If senior level: 75%-100% active

Passive strategies are job board-focused; active strategies are networking-focused.

For example:

Employed job search (for mid-career professional)

This person’s job search strategies are (I recommend four-five total job search strategies):

Passive: job boards, target employer websites

Active: LinkedIn networking, in-person networking, professional association meetings

Tuesdays from 7:00-8:00 p.m.: Reach out to five people from my existing LinkedIn network to connect/reconnect. Ask at least one of those people to meet with me next week (either virtually or in person).

Thursdays from 7:00-8:00 p.m.: Apply to jobs I found online since last Thursday (pay attention to application deadlines and apply sooner if necessary). Look at the websites of my target employers to see if there are opportunities there.

+1 approach for any jobs I apply to.

Wednesdays: Attend my professional meeting on the third Wednesday of the month; try to schedule networking lunches on the other Wednesdays but be flexible when needed.

Sundays: Apply to jobs that can’t wait until next Thursday; include +1 approach. Plan upcoming week’s job search.

The unemployed job search could look much the same – just with more time spent on each of the activities. In other words, you don’t need to necessarily go broader with your job search – just deeper.

3.    Reward yourself for achieving that day’s job search goals.

When we only reward ourselves for either a job interview or a job offer, we are setting ourselves up for a lot of days of “failure.” Rather, I want you to reward yourself for doing the things you decided ahead of time were important for your job search that day.

This might look like a trip to the dog park, down time to read a book or watch a movie, or a glass of wine. You could also set up something a little more elaborate, such as a week of doing everything you set out to do = $X in guilt-free, no-strings-attached spending money. But also do the daily reward!

4.    Periodically evaluate and adjust.

At least once a month, check in with your activities and the results you’re getting. Is there something you need to do more of, less of, start doing, or stop doing?

Tell yourself the truth here – is the strategy not working because you aren’t working the strategy, or at least not with the proper energy? Do you need professional help to address an issue you are having around networking, or cultivating relationships on LI, or sticking with your plan?

5.    Finally – find the balance between staying the course and giving yourself a break.

You might get sick. If you are working, you might have a huge deadline coming up. You might have family issues to attend to.

It’s up to you to decide: Do I reschedule this job search time for another day? Do I genuinely need to take a week off? Do I forego today’s job search plan and pick it back up tomorrow?

Your answers to the above should be informed in part by how quickly you want to land a new job.

Happy job searching in 2023!

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