The job search process involves a lot of planning and attention to detail, so its no wonder that many people quickly feel overwhelmed and even a bit out of control. The best way to avoid this is to organize your job search so that you have a clear strategy outline and a structured schedule to keep you moving forward.
Outline your strategy
Start by creating an outline of your job search strategy. List the tactics you intend to use, and the amount of time you will devote to each tactic. A typical list might include the following:
Network with contacts
Search online job sites
Search newspaper ads
Some employment experts say that less than 20% of all jobs are found through the newspaper or online, with the other 80% found through networking. Knowing this, decide how much time you are going to devote to your job search, then allocate that time accordingly.
Define the steps
Next, for each tactic create a list of the steps involved. Here is what this might look like for the Network with contacts tactic:
Call the contact
Ask to meet for 30 minutes to get their...