So, are you looking for a new job? Perhaps you are making a voluntary career transition. Maybe you’ve been laid off, or worse yet, fired. Regardless of the reason for your career change, one fact remains true: If you’re conducting a job search, it’s vital that you take an organized approach. Managing this search is like managing any other important project. You must create an infrastructure that allows you to operate efficiently and productively. A successful job search requires foresight and action. Here are some tips for conducting an organized job search.
- Declutter and Pre-Purge – If you are looking for a new job, it will be difficult to do so if your physical space is cluttered with piles of papers everywhere. Take some time to clear yourself. Get rid of any unnecessary items, archive the documents you need to keep, recycle the junk mail, and bring some order back to that space! It will be easier for you to focus on your job search without all that chaos and clutter around you. Just be careful not to spend too much time tidying up that you start using it as an excuse to procrastinate regarding exploring your work. A few days should be enough.
- Create a job search calendar – Let’s face it: job hunting is hard work! If you’re still employed while looking for a new position, be prepared to have an extremely busy schedule. If you’re currently unemployed, keep in mind that you do, in fact, have a job – do a job search! Create a schedule that gives you enough time for all the activities you need to focus on to be successful: resume and cover letter preparation, browsing the web for jobs, networking, interviewing, following up, etc. Block out time on your calendar for job search activities and treat that time as you would any traditional work commitment. Be consistent in the amount of time you spend each day and week on new work activities to maintain your momentum and not lose focus and miss out on valuable opportunities.
- Get your team in order – Update your resume, cover letter, references, and writing sample (if applicable). Ask for letters of recommendation and testimonials from former or current supervisors, coworkers, and professional colleagues. Get new stationery and stock print cartridges for your printer. If you want to use an outside source for printing, some local printers will copy resumes for free during an economic downturn, so ask! Make sure you have a computer with high-speed Internet access. An all-in-one machine for printing, copying, faxing, and scanning will also come in handy during a career change.
- Create job search center – Reserve space at home (or wherever you go to carry out your search activities) and make it the center of the job search. Keep all of your job search-related supplies in one place, making it easy to find them when you need them. This will also help you get into search mode when you are in that space.
- Create a career change document management system – You may be picking up a lot of paper in your search: resources, articles, sample resumes and cover letters, networking business cards, contact or rejection letters, etc. As long as you can keep these items paperless, do so. But if you have to keep a hard copy, be sure to create a job search paper file or management system, which will be stored at your job search center. Keep it simple and use whatever system makes the most sense to you for ease of use (binder, portable file cabinet, traditional file cabinet, etc.).
- Plan job search activities – Plan daily job search activities such as phone calls to make, resumes to send, online applications to complete, informational interviews to take, etc. Write down your search activities as calendar items, to-dos, or tasks so that you take them seriously and treat them as measurable goals. Be realistic about what you can reasonably accomplish in a day, but also challenge yourself!
- Activity Tracking – Organizing your job search involves keeping track of all information and communications. Keep track of where and when you submitted your resume, who you’ve spoken to, when interviews took place, etc. This information will be vital when deciding when to follow up with leads. You can keep track of all this information using a calendar like Outlook or Google, or an online tool like JobFiler.com. Regardless of the tools you use, it’s important that you can track the status of your job search.
- Manage Job Search Email – In today’s world, much of your job search will probably be done via email. So, before you even start your search, reduce the amount of email in your inbox so you can focus on your job search emails, which will add up quickly. Create folders within your email system using categories that make sense to you, such as Employers Applying To, Contacts Resumes Sent To, etc.
- Polish your profiles online – If you’re looking for a new job in today’s market, you’d be discounted from developing an online presence on social networking sites, especially LinkedIn, which is the most “professional” of social networking sites and can essentially serve as your site online. resume. But also consider other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The opportunities are endless for employers and contacts to find you online. You can even have your own website, ezine, or blog. Maybe you publish articles on various article marketing sites, or serve as a guest blogger on other blogs. If you maintain profiles on any of the social networking sites, or have any kind of online presence, be sure to polish your profiles so that they promote the image you want prospective employers and contacts to see.
- change your greetings – Change the message that greets callers for any phone number you plan to use for your job search to sound professional and convey the information you want callers to hear. Get ready, don’t be embarrassed!
- stay positive – The longer the job search takes, the more likely you are to become negative about it. Try to stay as positive as possible by monitoring your progress and staying active in your quest. When the going gets tough during a job search, many people fall behind and give up, which is counterproductive. Try to stay focused and make valuable contacts that are likely to lead to a job. However, don’t get consumed by the search for a job! Maintaining a certain balance in your life at this time will serve you well. Get enough sleep, eat well, see family and friends for pleasure, and take time to exercise.
Organization is one of the most important things you can do to make your job search manageable. Just as being organized helps you improve every other area of your life, home, or work, it will also help you move forward in your job search quickly, efficiently, and with less stress. It may even end up being the key to finding the dream job you’ve always wanted.
Good luck!
