I’ve been pretty quiet lately, I know. But that’s because I’ve been focusing intensely on my job search. I’ve been at it for about two months now and let me tell you: looking for work is every bit as demoralizing and depressing as everyone says it is. You bang out cover letter after excellent cover letter and the calls still may not come. It can be rough on your self-esteem and motivation.
However, I’ve learned a few things through my ongoing job hunt and I’d like to share them with the hope that perhaps they will help fellow job hunters just a little bit.
Be organized!
Be organized! I cannot stress this enough. Fortunately, I am naturally inclined to color-code and categorize, so when it came time to start my job search the first thing I did was create a Google Docs spreadsheet to keep the process running smoothly. I’ve saved it as a template here, so anyone can use it. Check it out.
This serves a few purposes. First, you can track your progress. How many applications do you send out each week? When were the jobs posted and when did you apply for them? (The less distance between those dates, the better.) Second, it’s an easy way to keep lots of information tidy and accessible. Who is the contact person for this application? Is there a due date? Are there special instructions? Avoid making silly mistakes simply by taking a little extra effort to organize.
Unless you’re really lucky, you will have completed dozens of applications by the time you find a job - keep track of all of them.
Set goals and be realistic!
It is important to have a goal for how many applications you submit each week. But if that goal is too high, you’ll disappoint yourself and become demoralized. If that goal is too low, you’ll have given yourself an excuse to slack. Be realistic about how long it can take to write a quality cover letter and tailored resume. (Don’t just send out form letters! Bad strategy!) My personal goal is four completed applications a week. Sometimes I can do more and then I can feel particularly good about myself.
Exercise!
Even if you don’t normally exercise, now that you’re unemployed, you are almost certainly engaging in less physical activity than you were when you had a job. My current “commute” is the five feet between my bed and my desk. Just two months ago I was accustomed to walking at least a couple miles per day around campus. You and your body will respond badly to this decline in activity, making you less productive. Put in the extra effort to get yourself out of the house and moving around.
Volunteer!
Now, this is a good idea, but it comes with a caveat. Volunteering can be great for many reasons - you gain experience, you meet others with similar interests, and it’s good for your community. However, given the unemployment rate right now, even a volunteer job can be difficult to get. Since becoming unemployed, I’ve submitted a couple volunteer applications and have not gotten called. So if you can volunteer, do so, but don’t focus too much of your energy on landing a job that won’t get you a pay check.
Go to MeetUps!
Search meetup.com for professional groups in your field of interest and go to their social meetings. It’s a great way to meet people and network. When employers receive hundreds of applications for a job, you need to have an extra edge to get yourself noticed. Knowing an employee at the organization who can put in a good word for you might be all you need to get noticed.
Now I must admit, this is great advice that I haven’t taken myself yet. Showing up for a group meeting when you don’t know anyone can be very intimidating. If that’s not your style, no worries. But if you’re not too shy, go for it; it could help.
Send your documents as attachments AND in the body of the email!
Some job postings want your documents (cover letter, resume, etc) as attachments, some job postings want them as plain text in the email itself, but most do not specify. Follow the specific instructions given, if there are any, but if there’s not, it’s a good idea to do both. That way you’ve got your all your bases covered.
I always write individualized cover letters, but I use a form email. I use TextExpander to have this text pop up after a short command (saves a lot of time):
To Whom It May Concern,I am writing to apply for the [INSERT POSITION] position with [INSERT ORGANIZATION]. Attached you will find my cover letter and resume in PDF format. For your convenience, I have also included the plain text of those documents in the body of this email (see below).
If selected for an interview, I can be reached at corinne.hoener@gmail.com or 347.410.1857. If hired, I can begin working immediately.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best wishes,
Corinne Hoener.
Use PDF files!
I use a Mac as my primary machine and I built my cover letter/resume form from a Pages template. My documents looked very, very pretty on my Mac. Satisfied, I sent out a couple of applications. Then, just for funsies, I downloaded my resume onto my parents’ aging PC to check it out.
Holy formatting problems, Batman!! Word 2003 didn’t even have the font I was using so the whole document looked horrible. Ever since then, I’ve saved my documents as PDFs and sent those out. With PDF your formating is preserved and will look the same on any computer. It’s easy to save a document as a PDF. If you’re using MS Word on a Mac, just go to File -> Save As and select PDF from the format drop down menu. Windows folks will need to download a PDF tool, I believe. Worth the effort though.
Google yourself!
Why? Because potential employers are going to. You need to know what information about you is online and how you can control it. Lifehacker has a good guide to controlling your what Google says about you.
Also, be sure to check out the privacy settings on any social networks you belong to. For instance, you may have your Facebook photos set to “Friends Only,” but what about other people’s photos in which you’re tagged? Facebook provides a lot of flexibility in their privacy settings, but it is unfortunately difficult to navigate. So be thorough. There’s a lot of information online to help guide you through confusing privacy settings.
Follow up with a phone call!
I know, I know, “NO PHONE CALLS, PLEASE!” But hear me out. You submit an application. A week or two goes by and you’ve heard nothing. They’ve either read your application and decided to pass or they haven’t noticed you at all (and at this point probably never would). Call them to “confirm that your application was received.” They’ll search their files and find your application (or maybe they won’t - in which case, good to know and you’ll send it again!). If they’ve already passed on you, this will change nothing. But if they weren’t going to notice you, now they’ve noticed. It really can’t hurt you.
Reward yourself!
Rewarding yourself goes hand in hand with having goals. It’s very easy to start feeling badly about yourself while you’re out of work. But if you have tangible, achievable goals, you will feel more like a worthy human being when you meet them. And when you do, treat yourself - watch a little TV, have a snack, do something fun. This productivity/reward cycle will become self-perpetuating.
Do these tips seem helpful? Am I missing anything? What helped you survive a job search? I’d welcome more suggestions!
