Job Search Tip-Create a Schedule

Photo credit: Wix media

At one point or another, you might get laid off, quit your job without a back up plan or maybe you are just looking to transition career paths!

In May 2018, I decided to quit my job with nothing lined up and as a Type-A personality, you can only imagine how stressed I was trying to find a new gig! However, I realized that after four months of continuous stress and constant sadness and frustration, I decided that my happiness was more important.

Fast forward one month, I worked with a staffing agency and started taking on temporary contracts as I continued my job search for a permanent position. Luckily, I had an amazing recruiter so I was able to work with minimally two clients within a month and a half period before I was extended two offers and invited to interview for multiple positions.

During this time, my greatest learning lessons were:

1. It is important to create a job search schedule for yourself!

Similar to when you are going to work or school, you have a set routine daily to allow you to accomplish the things that you want. This is no different then when you are searching for jobs, if you don't allocate set times to search for jobs : e.g. first two hours in the morning and last two hours of the day before you wind down...it is easy to get overwhelmed. Yes it is important for you to be able to pay your bills but if you do not create space for you to "fill your bucket," it will be difficult to be the best version of yourself.

2. Network

During my time of unemployment, I realized that my existing network could not help me as much as if I started branching out and developing new connections. This was a good time to start learning from other professionals by asking to do an informational interview.

3. Create content

If you get frustrated by the fact that you have a lot of knowledge but no way of demonstrating it if an employer won't even look at your resume, creating content on platforms such as LinkedIn can attract people's attention while allowing you to demonstrate your knowledge and how you can potentially help them.

Searching for jobs can be a full time job in itself so it is important that you create a schedule that works for your lifestyle. Most importantly, know that you are enough and do not give up!