What if you could save an hour a day on your job search starting tomorrow? That’s 5 hours per week or more than a half-day.
You can do that when you put these 3 solutions in place, and you can do it right now.
Proper job search management. If you’re still managing your job search purely by email, stop it. Once you start applying for numerous positions, you’ll easily loose information, forget messages and drop the ball. Not to mention all the time you spend sifting through your endless list of emails for that one piece of information you need.
There are 2 tools I recommend to help manage and speed up your job search:
- Trello – Look, I’m a digital girl in a digial world. Trello can not only help you visually manage your job search but manage your whole life.
Whether you use Trello or an excel spreadsheet, you need to start collating your job search into 1 place. You’ll have one place to look for tasks that are still outstanding, and be able to tell at a glance what needs your immediate attention.
- Dropbox – In addition to tracking your applications, you’ll want to store the resume, cover letter, selection criteria etc you sent along with a copy of the job ad, position description or any other documentation.
Every job you apply for should have a folder which you place this information into. You can upload to Trello, but if you are using a spreadsheet Dropbox is the perfect place to keep everything, whilst being able to access your documents from anywhere.
Proper documentation. Do you find yourself reinventing the wheel every time you have an interview? Take 30 minutes and document answers to common questions you’ll be asked, then next time you have to do it you’ll be able to quickly refresh yourself on your background. There will be fewer mistakes, and your interview prep will get done faster.
Use time blocking. Get out your calendar and start making appointments with yourself. Decide when you’ll work on job campaign, then stick to the schedule. These self-imposed deadlines will not only force you to get the work done, but they’ll help keep you focused, so rather than wasting time on Facebook, you’ll be working on your career.
All of these systems can be set up in an afternoon—at least initially.
But the time they save you when you use them consistently is phenomenal.
An hour a day is just the beginning, but you have to take action. You have to put in the work first before you can earn the rewards, but the benefits are sweet.
In the end, you’ll wonder how you ever managed before you did these three things to improve your career prospects.
