Organizing Your Job Search

The second busiest time of year for job hunting is coming up (begins two weeks before Labor Day) and if you are thinking about exploring for a new career opportunity, the time to get organized is now. While the task of managing your job search is challenging, you should not just search company websites, industry association websites, social media sites (notably LinkedIn), job boards and other related channels.  You need to “manage” your search so you can easily track the following:

1.  Job Title
2. Date Submitted
3. Company Name 

a.  Start-up

b.    Enterprise – Level

c.     SMB

d.     Industry

e.      Location

4.       Contact Name and Title 
5.       Online source (i.e. LinkedIn; DMA.org)

6.       Date of Follow-up 
7.       List of Documents Send to Hiring Manager 
8.       Known Contacts Employed at the Company 
9.       List of Pre-set Job Alerts (using from Job Boards)
10.  Interview Calendar

This does not have to be daunting.  You can use an Excel spreadsheet or Google Docs but there are plenty of websites (i.e. Jibberjobber.com; Indeed.com) that provides these services free of charge.  There are also several CRM tools (Cloud or downloadable) that you can access for a nominal fee or even for free.

Whatever you decide – be comprehensive and stay organized.  This level of detail will keep you motivated and focused on the task at hand.

Allan