Finding a job can be a full-time job in itself. Organizing your day helps you be more efficient and effective in your job search, which can increase your chances of finding employment. This can include creating a schedule for searching and applying for jobs, networking, updating your resume and cover letter and others. Additionally, staying organized can help you keep motivated and focused, which is crucial when you are feeling discouraged during the job search process.
Overall, organizing your day helps you make the most of your time and increase your chances of finding the job you want and deserve. Fact is that there are several possibilities that help job seekers to keep up organization and become really productive when job searching.
Based on that, we have asked for contributions about it and from refreshing your search daily to creating a “default diary,” here are the 16 answers to the question, "What are your best tips to plan the day toward finding the job people deserve?"
- Refresh Your Job Search Three Times a Day
- Seek Informational Interviews With Experienced Vets
- List Down Your Top Career Goals
- Don’t Rely On Online Applications Alone
- Keep Adding New Skills to Your Resume
- Build a Schedule Around Your “Peak” Time
- Work Closely With a Mentor
- Use a Simple Spreadsheet as a Checklist
- Start Early, Feel Great
- Identify Distractions
- Try Search Alerts and Saved Search Features
- Clean and Declutter Your Workspace
- Live Like the Person You Want to Become
- Divide, Conquer, and Follow-up
- Remember Small Steps Lead to Big Things
- Create a "Default Diary"
Refresh Your Job Search Three Times a Day
While it might sound like making the job search harder, one of the best ways to increase your odds of getting a second look during your job search is to update your search regularly throughout the day.
Some jobs, especially those in populated cities, or ones that allow for remote work, get hundreds of applications on the first day. Job seekers want to make sure they're one of the first applications in each job search. This means you want to have your resume and an editable cover letter easily available so that you can edit and submit them quickly.
If you're routinely checking the latest job boards, two or three times a day, you can quickly look through the latest postings and respond to the ones that match your needs. To make this time-effective, narrow your job search and base it on a few key search terms (like your skills, or the job title you want.) Checking often will make it easy to filter through listings, so you're only looking and replying to the latest ones that match your search.
Shawn Plummer, CEO, The Annuity Expert
Seek Informational Interviews With Experienced Vets
Ask for informational interviews with professionals who hold or have held the position you aspire to. Those people who have the experience in the role you want to have are best positioned to help you understand what each day will look like and how you can best prepare yourself.
One of my favorite interview questions is, “what does a typical day on the job look like?” The answers you get will glean some of the most pertinent information to your long-term satisfaction and expectations for the role.
One example might be if a position forced you to accomplish some work tasks after hours or at various times in the day. For instance, if you aren’t up to taking calls from across the world at 3 am local time occasionally, you might learn that the position will not work for your needs.
Kevin Miller, Founder, kevinmiller.com
List Your Top Career Goals
One best tip is to start by creating a list of your top career goals. Once you have your goals mapped out, you can develop a plan of action to help achieve those goals.
This plan should include researching potential employers, networking, and honing job-seeking skills. By taking these proactive steps, job seekers will increase their chances of finding the job they deserve.
Johannes Larsson, Founder & CEO, JohannesLarsson.com
Don’t Rely on Online Applications Alone
When you are finding a job, you should not rely completely on submitting online applications. The downside to this is that you could look for a job for a very long time since, by the time you apply, the company might be in the final interview stages.
The most advisable thing to do is to contact companies that interest you directly. These calls might get you a meeting with the internal recruiter who might be your link to those companies.
Yongming Song, CEO, Live Poll for Slides
Keep Adding New Skills to Your Resume
While searching for a job you deserve, organizing your resume is vital. Besides the educational and other essential details, skills and work experience play a crucial role.
In your quest for a job, you shouldn't stop learning. Always try to learn new skills as much as you can. You can focus on the skills relevant to your preferred or dream job.
After learning those skills, add them to your resume. Add the timeline of your training or learning process. If you get certificates for your training from workshops, don't forget to add them to your resume. The skills in your resume reflect your desire to learn. Besides helping to stay organized, they will also impress recruiters.
Ryan Knoll, Owner, Tidy Casa
Build a Schedule Around Your “Peak” Time
Commit to your job search during your most ideal times of the day. Before committing, it’s best to determine what parts of the day you’ll have the most energy and drive.
Evaluate your feelings and be honest about how you spend your time. Identify when you feel the most productive and keep notes on how you felt. Test various scheduling systems to see which work best for you. Also, try your best to schedule with flexibility, as things don’t always go according to plan for various reasons.
Andrew Chen, Chief Product Officer, CommentSold
Work Closely With a Mentor
If there's somewhere you aspire to work but can't see yourself getting there soon enough, it helps to work with a mentor who can help you with your journey. They will guide you with the skills you need to adopt, the network you need to create, and the effort you need to put in to make that happen. Make sure you work with someone who knows the right ways to motivate you and help you reach your goals.
Asma Hafejee, Sr. Marketing Executive, CMR Surgical
Use a Simple Spreadsheet as a Checklist
To keep yourself as organized as possible for a hassle-free and systematic job search, use simple spreadsheets to categorize everything.
Have different spreadsheets dedicated to the companies you want to work for, companies you have applied to and heard from, and companies whose reply is pending.
Also, use a spreadsheet to log any resume updates, cover letter changes, or any notable mentions that you gave to customize your CV for a particular application. This way, you can easily track your progress in your job search and also streamline the job-seeking process by monitoring all the viable prospects at the same time.
Sean Harris, Managing Editor, Family Destinations Guide
Start Early, Feel Great
Job searching can be tough, even when you are motivated to land the job you deserve. Sometimes it can take significant effort and follow-up to secure that first interview for the position you want.
My best piece of advice while job searching is to start your search in the morning. Make it the first thing you sit down to do during the day. As a remote worker, when I first started pursuing the remote job I wanted, I made the mistake of waiting till the evening after I had finished my work shift.
I certainly didn't want to shortchange the job I had, but I decided I needed to switch my schedule around and allow myself an early morning job hunt. I was much more productive this way.
Sometimes, even when we are pushing for the job we really want, rejection, time, and silence can be depressing. Getting your job search done in the early morning gives you a sense of accomplishment for the rest of the day and also lets you function better at the job you currently have.
William Varney, Product Strategist, Megaphone Marketing
Identify Distractions
Addressing and diminishing distractions is a useful approach for organizing everyday routines. Phone calls, messages, and emails are a few typical sources. Thankfully, there are steps you may take to deal with them.
To stay focused and avoid becoming sidetracked by every new email that arrives in your inbox, schedule specific times to handle emails, for instance. To lessen the likelihood of becoming distracted by a personal text, you can decide to put a distracting cell phone in a mode where you use it less or store it in a drawer.
While it's not always possible to plan incoming calls for work, you might have more success blocking off time to make any outbound calls.
Samrudha Salvi, Founder, BuildFBA
Try Search Alerts and Saved Search Features
Setting up one’s LinkedIn profile and/or Google account with search alerts for specific companies is one best practice. Also called “saved searches,” these options bookmark a business’s website or listings, and will generate a notification to one’s accounts when a new job posting is listed.
Using this method for a few choice positions can keep an individual up to date with those jobs they are truly interested in pursuing further.
Annu Daniel, CEO, Elohim Company
Clean and Declutter Your Workspace
Clean your workspace when job searching online. Clutter and mess can distract you when finding the job you deserve. Remove piles of paper, books, and other unnecessary materials that could take your focus away from your job search. Having a clear head space comes with a clutter-free desk. It helps you organize your ideas to look for the perfect job more effectively.
An organized workspace also reduces the risk of misplacing information while you look for a job. You may write crucial details about your company or role and lose them on your cluttered, chaotic desk.
Josh Tyler, CEO, Giant Freakin Robot
Live Like the Person You Want to Become
If you want to find the job you deserve, you need to prove your worth to yourself and others. One way to do this is to live like the person you want to become.
Consider your dream job. What qualities and qualifications would the ideal candidate have? If you meet the criteria, great, but if there are any areas that need work, take steps to address these. It can also help to immerse yourself in the world you wish to inhabit. Is this a role that requires early starts? Get up early now and use your day productively.
Say you’re looking for a role in a law firm, then keep up to date with the latest legal developments. Read articles, subscribe to journals, and attend court proceedings. Whatever your intended industry is, connect with it daily.
Start a blog. Attend events where you’ll meet like-minded people. This consistent, congruent approach can show you and your potential employers that your profession isn’t just something you do but is part of who you are.
Martin Gasparian, Attorney & Owner, Maison Law
Divide, Conquer, and Follow-up
My best tip is centered on scheduling your time for the best success in your job searches. For the first couple of weeks, focus your mornings on applying for two or three jobs that you can spend an hour on per application. Pick jobs that match the job you want or think you deserve.
After two weeks, adjust and bump up your schedule by applying for more jobs in the morning and following up with the same amount of applications in the afternoon. This is how to divide and conquer your job search.
Following up is the most underrated part of a job search. If you are going for the job you think you deserve, you need to show the recruiters and HR departments that you are applying for that you want to be there.
As someone who does the hiring for my company, I almost always bump candidates who have followed up several times to the top of the interview list, even if they are less qualified. Consider that when you apply; you are going to be joining an established culture. Don't forget to follow up!
Brian Clark, CEO & Marketing Director, United Medical Education
Remember Small Steps Lead to Big Things
Don’t do any other task before accomplishing at least one thing toward finding the job of your dreams every day. There are so many things to do just to keep life running, from laundry, bill paying, and cooking meals to doctor appointments, not to mention “day jobs!”
Most of these tasks seem like “musts” but when we allow them to consume our days without prioritizing making progress toward our dreams, said dreams can slip away with little fanfare.
Don’t let that happen by making a promise to yourself to take one step closer toward that dream job before doing anything else and following through! You’ll be surprised how making one phone call to a contact in your desired field can turn into a follow-up call, submitting an application, or crafting a query letter. It’s all about momentum!
Kenneth Lin, CEO, BOOP Bakery
Create a "Default Diary"
I experienced redundancy twice in one year and the thing that kept me on track both times was creating a routine. I call this my "Default Diary".
I have met no one who can job search effectively for eight hours a day. You will experience the law of diminishing returns. At times, it can be soul-destroying, especially if you experience several rejections simultaneously.
When you are writing your default diary, think about when you are at your most productive and make that your job-searching time. It is also important to make time to get outside and exercise each day, read some of those books on your nightstand and tackle some of those annoying jobs around the house.
Try decluttering your space. It is incredible how getting rid of "stuff" can have a positive impact on other areas of your life.
Jane Ferré, Executive Career Coach, Jane Ferre Coaching
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