Job searching can be overwhelming. With so many listings to sift through, resumes to polish, companies to research, and emails to send, your hunt for a new gig can easily feel like a full-time job in and of itself.
Unfortunately, that leads to a lot of frantic and unorganized scrambling around. You respond to that email, search that job board, and write that random cover letter—all with little to no plan or strategy in place.
And, while you might feel like you’re being productive, it’s not necessarily the best way to work. Even worse? That constant switching of gears can lead to a lot of typos and mistakes—which, as you already know, aren’t the best method for landing that perfect new job.
So, what if I told you that there was a better way? What if you could have a strategic and organized plan of attack you could use to conquer that job search that—up until this point—has just been dragging you down? Well, there is. All you need to do is set out a schedule for yourself and stick to it.
“But, how can I know what that schedule should look like?” you’re moaning to yourself now. Don’t worry—that’s exactly what I’m here for! Here, you’ll find the perfect weekly schedule you can implement when you’re job searching. Put into play, and you’re sure to notice a difference in both your results and your sanity.
Monday
Today’s Mission: Searching
Monday is typically a busy day in most offices. Employees (and, ahem, hiring managers) are left to sift through their inboxes and clean through all of those messages that piled up over the weekend.
What does that mean for you? Well, quite simply, you won’t want to send in any application emails today—or, you’ll just end up getting lost in all of that noise and clutter.
So, during any given week, leave Monday as your day dedicated to searching for new jobs. Grab a notepad so that you can easily mark down key facts and important reminders about those certain gigs you find—including the application deadline (so you can adjust your weekly schedule if necessary).
You’ll also want to take note of keywords and important skills that pop up in those descriptions again and again. Taking care of that prep work now will make future steps much easier!
Tuesday
Today’s Mission: Researching
You already know that the secret to actually scoring an interview (and eventually landing the job) is demonstrating that you’re a great fit for both the position and the company. And, the only way to actually pull this off is to have a solid understanding of both of those things.
Tuesdays are now your dedicated day to digging into some research. Find any and all information you can about the companies you’re applying to (and, most importantly, their cultures). You can use those nuggets of information in your cover letters.
Also, do some further research on the actual position itself—rather than just relying on what the job description spits out at you. Illustrating that you have a good handle on all of the duties and responsibilities that come along with this sort of role will bring you one step closer to the top of that resume pile!
Wednesday
Today’s Mission: Polishing
Now that you’ve pulled the jobs you’re interested in applying for and done some research on how to best stand out amongst your competition, it’s time to put together your materials. The secret sauce here? Tailoring your resume for every single position you apply to.
Are you rolling your eyes now? I get it—it’s a pain. But, it really makes all the difference in the quality of your application materials.
This doesn’t need to be anything overly complex—nobody’s asking you to start from scratch with each document you create. The bones of your resume can remain the same. However, you should use those key skills and information about company culture that you learned on Monday and Tuesday by incorporating them into your documents.
This crucial step is a great way to demonstrate that you’re an accomplished, qualified, and—most importantly—relevant candidate. So, don’t skip it in the interest of saving yourself some time!
Thursday
Today’s Mission: Applying
Here it is—the part you’ve been waiting for. You get to step away from all of that pesky groundwork and actually apply for those positions you’re so excited about.
On Thursday of each week, you should plan to take one more read through your resume and cover letter. Then, remember to take another look at the application instructions (yes, you definitely need to follow those!) to make sure you’re in the loop on how to submit your materials.
Confirm that you’ve crossed your t’s and dotted your i’s and press “send” on that information you worked so hard on!
Friday
Today’s Mission: Follow Up
Chances are, you’re applying for a lot of jobs. So, by now, you’re probably pretty familiar with the fact that sometimes all you hear is crickets—at least until you follow up.
To keep your job search organized, you should plan to keep a running list (a simple spreadsheet will do!) of all of the places you’ve applied so far. In that spreadsheet, you should list the company name, contact person, position title, method you used to apply, and the date you actually submitted your application. This will make it easy to keep track of appropriate times to follow up about the hiring timeline.
On Friday, open up your handy spreadsheet and circle back with any jobs you haven’t heard from in the past two weeks. You still might only get radio silence, but you can rest assured that you’ve done everything you can to stay on the radar (without being a total pest).
There you have it—a job search timeline that’s sure to help you approach your hunt in a way that’s orderly and strategic. Of course, you can (and should!) make tweaks to this schedule based on interviews, correspondence with hiring managers, and application deadlines. But, this should definitely be enough to get you started!
The only thing left for you to do? Take a break. Believe me, you’ve earned it!
