Kickoff to your Job Search Strategies for Success

Learning Goals

  • Understand your time management needs and create a plan for Mod 4
  • Utilize resources for managing time and monitoring job search progress

Setting Yourself Up for Success

If you haven’t realized it by now, one of the most essential components of a successful job search is time management. This is especially important when you look at your to-do list for the job search and find yourself unsure of where to start. Try these 3 steps:

  1. Prioritize tasks:

    • Brain dump all of your tasks. Write down all the things you need to do for your job search, i.e., list companies you want to research, organize the job postings you’ve found, schedule a call with a networking contact, update your resume, etc.
    • Next, assign numbers to each task in order of priority. What needs to get done first? What is something that needs to be done before you can do something else?
    • Complete your tasks in the order you’ve given them. Resist the urge to skip around. If you find yourself needing to change priorities, make sure to reorder everything so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.

  2. Time block:

  • Schedule exactly when you will complete a task on your calendar as though it’s an appointment or a meeting at your job.
  • Stay focused on just that task during that time block. No multitasking!
  • Turn off Slack, put your phone on silent, and close your email during this time block to keep yourself focused.
  1. Find Your Focus:
  • Decide what your non-negotiable task is for the day. What do you want to get accomplished today?
  • Set your intention for your work time focused on that accomplishment
  • Consider when you work best and how you want to tackle your to-do list. When you have shorter work times, focus on smaller tasks. When you have longer time times, dig into bigger tasks

Here’s an example of how you could block out specific time to work on your resume for a position during a typical week in Mod 4:

Resume Time Blocking Chart

It’s helpful to think of your job search as something similar to any of your projects: there is a larger goal, tasks that need to be broken down into smaller steps, and tracking your progress will help you see your work pay off and what you can continue to improve upon. Here are 4 tips to approach this:

  1. Manage your time. Create time blocks to work on your job search activities that include:
    • Outreach
    • Company research
    • Job applications, including updating your resume and writing tailored cover letters

  2. Build out a calendar to host these time blocks. It can also be helpful to color code the different job search activities you’re working on!

  3. Use a tracker. Whether you use your Turing-provided account on Huntr or a spreadsheet, it’s important to keep track of all of the tasks you’ve completed or still need to complete.

  4. Seek support. Use your mentors, instructors, and peers to help you through this process. Job searching is a team sport, and the more you collaborate, the more you can accomplish!

  5. Retro your job search. At the end of each week, reflect on the progress you’re making. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

    • How many people did you reach out to this week?
    • How many new leads or contacts did you get?
    • How many jobs did you apply to?
    • How many interviews did you have?
    • How many hours did it take you to do all this?
    • What adjustments should you make to the upcoming week based on these reflections?