Thursday, November 29, 2012
How to Make Your Job Search Productive
lifehack.org: Job searching is a time-consuming, stressful process. If you’re unemployed, it becomes your full-time job, and if you already have a job but are looking for a new one, it’s like taking a second job (that you can’t tell your first job about!). However, there are ways to organize your time and energy to make your job search productive — and a productive job search is one that gets you hired.
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4 comments:
I am glad to see that the practices that I used in my job search after undergrad were at least mostly correct. I will say that this all seems fairly straight forward with no major innovations. The use of automated job searches is made here to seem easy but it takes quite a bit of setup to not get a problematic return of jobs you don't want. I think that one thing that is overlooked here is something that I have had a problem with, which is not applying for jobs just because you do not think you will get them or that you are not qualified. I would also say that people should not underestimate the power of networking in this industry especially because it seems that the people you know are much more important than what you know.
The article is right about the time consuming and stressful part. Being a almost final semester senior, I have timidly started the job hunt and as exciting and wonderful as it is, it is still terrifying. A few of these things I have, thankfully, been doing, which as Luke says is reassuring. But I am glad that I read things like make a spreadsheet of where you have applied and when. Because even though I have only applied to two jobs so far, I can see how they can get out of hand. It is just one of those important life decisions that are so important that all the information that we can get can be helpful.
I agree with five out of six of these... It absolutely makes sense to make a spreadsheet to keep track of dates submitted and where you've applied, and a list of contacts for each company. It's also so important to have a plan so that you can't keep putting it off and putting it off and then weeks have passed without you sending anything or contacting anyone. Job searching is a scary thing, so it's easy to find other things that you'd rather do.
What I do not agree with is the suggestion to use a "reputation protector". I'm sorry, but if you can't control your own internet presence and make sure that there aren't inappropriate things about you online, there are bigger issues. People should be able to have responsibility for their own online presence and not rely on hiring someone to police you. Unless you're a celebrity with an entire PR team to monitor an online presence, there shouldn't be a need to have someone else track you, especially since eventually you're going to have to take back that responsibility, unless you're planning on hiring a reputation protector for the rest of your working life.
As a junior in college, I am glad to see this article with internships applications coming up, but even more importantly, with applying for jobs next year. Seeing the seniors going through this stress helped me realize how much time was truly consumed during this process. These are great tips that should all be taken seriously, and I like that this article lists both the big picture and smaller breakdowns on how to go about accomplishing the big picture.
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