If you are an unemployed job seeker, your job search might be more difficult because you don’t already have a pre-existing schedule to help you establish a structure for your search. There are pros and cons to being an unemployed job seeker. You have more time than those who are employed, but you also have to create your own structure and schedule from scratch to ensure you’re effective in your job search.
I recently spoke with a career coaching client, Andrea, about this exact issue. She was finding it hard to structure her days in a way that she was effective in her job search. At the end of each day, she felt like she had taken action, but wasn’t sure if it was the most effective action. She didn’t have a sense of accomplishment. Every day and every week I suggest having a basic template for your job search that creates your own schedule. Go by the hour if needed. For example, every day you start your work by 9 am and from 9-11 you work on networking, and searching online job boards. Take a break for lunch, and an additional hour for working out/doing personal things if needed. Then get back to your job search from 2-5. During that time you can work on applying for jobs, revising your resume, updating your LinkedIn profile, making connections in LinkedIn or reaching out to recruiters.
You can set your schedule however you want to. The key is to have a structure in place so that you know when you want to be working on specific things. This will help you establish what goals you want to achieve each day and each week. Having a schedule will help ensure you’re using your time and energy wisely and that you’ve accomplished what you want to each day.
Hallie Crawford
Atlanta Career Coach
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