Between interviews, networking, researching companies, canvassing job boards, following up with recruiters, etc., a job search takes as much time as a current job. Many jobseekers think they need to quit their current job before they start looking. But traditional advice says the best time to look is when you’re employed. So how do you fit a job search into your already packed schedule?
Between interviews, networking, researching companies, canvassing job boards, following up with recruiters, etc., a job search takes as much time as a current job. Many jobseekers think they need to quit their current job before they start looking. But traditional advice says the best time to look is when you’re employed. So how do you fit a job search into your already packed schedule?
Recruiters and employers prefer the currently employed, even if you have a perfectly good reason to be unemployed. Employed people are in-the-know. Employed people have access to competitor information. Employed people have an existing network that can be tapped for candidate referrals for the recruiter and/or new business for the employer. Therefore, quitting is an absolute last resort. Besides, if you have to quit to take on a job search, then what would you do if a special work project arose or a promotion came up that required increased responsibility?
On the one hand, this is a math and logistics problem. You have 24 hours per day that you need to allocate towards your various obligations, including your job search. There are certain things that can only be done at certain times (e.g., returning phone calls, interviewing). Therefore, the short answer to your time management conundrum is that you itemize where you’re currently spending time, see where you can cut things out to make room for your search, and block out periods as needed for the time-specific search activities. As a coach, one of my first exercises with new clients is to audit their existing time, money and energy expenditures to identify what resources we have to dedicate to the search.
On the other hand, this is a psychology problem. The longer explanation for a job search time management conundrum is that inertia, fear, anxiety, and other unpleasantness is exposed by a job search. A job search requires a tremendous amount of initial effort to launch and then even more continued effort to execute till completion. If you are not sure why you are looking, if you are second-guessing what your interests are, or if you have other priorities, then it will be that much harder to start and sustain your search. So, if you are not getting traction with your current search or unable to even start, before you rearrange your schedule (as per above) ask yourself first if you really want to do this. As a coach, I very specifically define a client’s targets first before anything else (sometimes it’s a job search but many times it becomes something else). My client and I need to know before we start where we’d like to finish.
Maybe you need a new hobby, not a new job. Maybe you need to reconnect with old friends. Maybe you need to take better care of yourself. If you are not finding the time for your search, maybe you don’t care enough about it. That’s okay, but stop second-guessing yourself and just redirect your efforts to other more productive pursuits for right now. Once you take care of your competing priorities, you can come back to your job search with a renewed dedication.
Is Your Job Search Flexible or Just Unfocused?
As a recruiter, I’ve seen lack of flexibility on the recruiting side with employers clinging to every last detail in their ideal spec while perfectly good candidates get overlooked. As a career coach, I see jobseekers prematurely dismissing possible targets waiting for that perfect job. It’s true that you want to be focused in your job search (otherwise you dilute your efforts and come across as scattered and possibly desperate).
5 Questions to Test If Your Resume Is Recruiter-Proof
After recruiting in search and in-house for over ten years, I have read thousands of resumes. Due to sheer volume of resumes received and all the other things that vie for the recruiter’s attention in the hiring process – scheduling, interviewing, networking, reference checks, client debriefs, and more – the resume review process is ruthlessly quick.
Why Conventional Wisdom On Work Flexibility Is Always Wrong
In a previous post, I wrote about why employment statistics are always wrong. In a similar way, conventional wisdom on work flexibility is always wrong. It is impossible to generalize something that is inherently case-by-individual case. Therefore, any boilerplate advice or conventional wisdom is bound to omit a key consideration, underweight or overemphasize other considerations, or take too long-term or short-term of a view.
