News - Job Search Tips

How to Organise Your Job Search

Finding a job

Looking for work really is a full-time job. Between having an up to date cover letter and resume through to researching the jobs available and reading advice online, the whole process can be extremely time consuming and take commitment to find the right role for you.

Whilst it certainly is a busy time, it can be more productive to have some structure around your job search activities. Here are our tips to help you along the way. 

Manage your time

Everyone is productive at different times of the day. Work out if you are a morning person or night person and structure your job search time accordingly. Block off time in your day to help you get the most from your job search activities. 

It’s important that you establish a routine and stick to it. An organised approach will also improve the quality of your cover letters and interviews.

Track your applications

This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how often candidates accidentally apply to the same job twice. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of all your job applications. Your spreadsheet can have the following columns, which you fill in for every single application you submit:

  • Job title
  • Company name
  • Contact name
  • Location
  • Link to posting
  • Date you applied
  • Date you followed up
  • Date of interview
  • Application status (waiting to hear back, application was rejected, etc.).

Having a spreadsheet will make you feel organised and in control of your job search. It gives you an easy overview of where you are in your career journey and can assist you in reviewing your application to date - so that you can review your process and make improvements as you progress through your job search.

Set daily goals

It is great to have a big, long-term goal that represents your destination. Ask yourself: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where do you want your career to take you? But when job searching it is important to identify smaller goals that will act like a roadmap to get you to the big goal. You need to understand where you are going and goal setting helps to identify this for you.

For example, someone who is working full-time while job searching might set the following daily goals:

  • Apply to at least one job per day
  • Spend 30 minutes researching a prospective employer per day
  • Spend 30 minutes researching job tips or career advice per day

What if you are struggling to find a job?

It is hard to stay motivated during the job search and if you are finding that you are not having any luck securing your next role, then it is time to reassess.

Look at your tracked applications and review if there are any patterns - do you make it to interviews and then not progress? Are you getting to interview stage at all? If there are some common themes from all your applications, taking time to review you applications process is a great place to start. If you are still finding it challenging, reach out to our team to chat further about your career goals and where you want to be. Our team can help review your resume and give you interview tips to help you on your journey.

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