Your Strategic Job Search Requires This
It’s critical for a Job Seeker, even the incognito ones, to have this one thing to be successful in their search for their next opportunity.
A job search can have all the creative strategies applied to it, but if you are missing this, it will fail:
Time in your schedule to do it.
When we want results, we have to invest time to get them. I’ve categorized professionals into one of three types:
Planners, Non-planners, Loose Schedulers.
Here are practical steps to implement time in your calendar based on how you’re wired. Feel free to read them all or skip to the one that you know is you… after all, time is ticking!
Planners
We can see you a mile away with your perfect schedule and color-blocked appointments based on personal, business, and the people or pets you care for. We applaud this creativity, as we are in awe of its beauty. Your challenge though is that the schedule is so tightly packed that finding the time means you’re booking 4-6 weeks out for the next event.
Critical Action Item for creating TIME in the Job Search:
You will need to make the tough decision about what has to come off of your calendar to make room for the job search activity.
Carefully think through a two-month span for what can be sacrificed or placed on the back-burner to give yourself the quality time to effectively produce results in your search.
Strategic job searches inherently mean you will be focused and on target with your efforts, which will delight your instincts to use time well and encourage you to take the time for it.
Non-planners
The ability to spot you is as easy as the calendar app having to be re-downloaded because you are a go-with-the-flow kind of person and love it! You’re the best one to make last-minute plans with and probably the life of the party. Your challenge though is that carving out dedicated time for an activity such as the job search will go so much against the grain of how you’re wired that you might struggle to see the point of it.
Critical Action Item for creating TIME in the Job Search:
If you haven’t outlined WHY you are pursuing a new opportunity, now is the time to do that. And if it’s just “I need another job” then it’s not deep enough to keep you focused on that goal.
A WHY can look like this: “I value my gifts and talents and I know that the company I am at now does not. I don’t want to spend the rest of my career in an environment that doesn’t see value in me.”
Armed with your WHY, choose a few days of the week and a specific time of day (morning, afternoon, or evening) and stick to the time block to complete job search-related activities. For example Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the mornings. That kind of loose but scheduled timeframe will ensure you do the work.
Loose Schedulers
You are the most difficult to spot because your calendar does have activity blocked, but you tend to adapt on a dime and create space and time for… everyone. You’re the best at helping in a time of need and seem to create time for anything important. Your challenge though is to learn to say no more quickly to the people or events that would pull you away from critical job search activity.
Critical Action Item for creating TIME in the Job Search:
There will be people you must have time for and only you know who they are in your life. But the periphery people who come along to need your time are going to have to have a new boundary for a short season.
Having clear communication with people is the key to making time work for you in the job search. If you don’t want to advertise that you’re looking for a new job, saying “no thank you” to an invite or involvement can be:
“I appreciate the request, and I must decline at this time. I have a new personal initiative that I’m working on and want to stay focused on that. Perhaps we can re-engage on this in a couple of months? I’ll reach out when I’m ready.”
Saying no can be tough if you identify as a Loose Scheduler because it’s natural for you to just “fit it in.” Empowering yourself to say no to some things now will be key to success in your job search.
Important Note:
Effective job searches can require anywhere between two - six hours each week. The amount of time needed is largely dependent on the effective strategy that has been put together and your personality, but my recommendation is if you cannot give at least two hours, then prepare for a long-haul job search.
If you are unemployed and “full-time” in the job search, you will do better and see more results when you schedule the strategic job search activity vs. all-the-time hunting/networking/pursuing the job. Balance is critically important when seeking your next opportunity. Make sure to fill your schedule with rest, relaxation, reading (or listening to podcasts), and physical activity to keep the mind sharp.
If you’re not in a job search, but know of someone who is, please forward this article to them!