Time Management And Your Job Search

If you were to take a poll of job seekers, chances are they would tell you that the hardest thing to deal with in a job search is time.  There just never seems to be enough of it in the day to get everything done.  There's a solution to this problem: Time management.  If you can master this skill, you will find it a lot easier to get all of your job search activities done. 

The first thing you should do to manage your time better is to create a schedule of what you are going to accomplish each day.  This should include both the time you plan to start the activity, and how long you want to spend doing it.  Here's an example:

9:00 AM-10:30 AM: Apply to jobs via online job boards.

10:30 AM-11:30 AM: Go on LinkedIn to develop new networking contacts.

12:00 PM-12:30 PM: Lunch!

12:30 PM-1:30 PM: Apply to more jobs.

You get the idea.  The goal here is to make your search more like a full-time job.  Most job search experts will tell you this is one of the keys to being successful.  After you have created your schedule, the real challenge is sticking to it.  How difficult this is will depend on your level of discipline.  One helpful tip is to set a timer to go off after the allotted time has passed.  I don't think there's anything wrong with spending an extra five minutes or so past your schedule, but don't go overboard.  If you discover that your schedule isn't giving you enough time to complete everything, change it up the next time.  There's nothing wrong with being flexible with your time management.