Making your search for jobs more efficient

29 April 2008

Jobs and career searching can be a laborious process that is too easy to be distracted from, but you need to exercise dedication if you are going to end up applying for the best jobs. If you haven't planned a method of making your search for jobs as painless as possible it is likely you are spending more time than you need to. These tips may be able to put you on the path to more efficient jobs browsing.

Make a schedule for your jobs search

Do you just search for jobs when the mood takes you or have you set aside time each day to look through jobs listings? If you search for jobs casually, then you can expect poor results and not many interview invitations. Instead, plan some time each day of the week at a specific time to look through listings of jobs.

Work out how often new jobs are listed in different categories

If you search in different categories with specific keywords and some of those searches don't often return jobs, then you should work out a schedule for searching. Perhaps the main category you look in should be searched every day, a related field every three days and uncommon jobs searched for once per week.

Remember to make time to work on applications

Searching for jobs should take up relatively little time in comparison to preparing applications. Some jobs only require you to submit a resume and cover letter, but many others will ask you to answer specific questions and possibly submit to aptitude tests before proceeding to an interview. If you won't have time each day to apply for jobs you should work out the time you will need on the weekend to apply for each of the jobs you want.

As a rule of thumb, prepare to spend half an hour per job on applications, and double the time for a job if it requires something other than a resume and cover letter. More than likely most applications will take you less time than this, especially if you have a few cover letters pre-prepared, but allowing this amount of time should help you to avoid being rushed.

Please browse our site for more information on the optimal way to search for jobs.


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