Staying Organized in Your Job Search

I promised that this post would be about preparing for a face-to-face interview, but frankly, I'm still working on some content for that one, and don't want to release it before I think that it is ready.  So I thought that I would write instead about how to stay organized in your job search. 

1)  There is always the old-fashioned way, and by that I mean a paper calendar and a paper address book.  I am a visual person, and I also like to put pen to paper, so this is a method that draws me in.  And it works for people who are good at taking good notes.  For others, not so much.

If you stick with pen and paper, be prepared to document by hand when your appointments are, when you plan to make calls, send letters, etc.  Also document what your goals are, and what you have done each day.  When you meet people, make a habit of getting their contact info into your book, along with notes about how you met that person and some distinguishing facts.

2)  For those who need some additional help, there are tools that can help you to manage your contacts and better track your job search.  Perfect Job Software is an internet based job search management tool that can help you to save a job listing, track when you sent your résumé, and schedule appropriate follow-ups.  You have heard me mention Jason Alba's blog before, but his contact management tool is worth mentioning also.  You can check it out at JibberJobber. 

The bottom line is that you need to have a system, whether it is my pen and paper approach, or software, or a web-based solution.  As one article points out, keeping track of your job search can help you to figure out what may be going wrong in your search.  It can also help you to set goals.  What is helping you to stay organized in your search?  

Comments

[Steve Davies]

Thanks for mentioning PerfectJob as a recommended tool for organizing your search!

We are excited about what it can do -- and when preparing for an interview, PerfectJob's ability to show context -- everything in its proper relationship -- is really key.

Steve
(President) www.PerfectJobSoftware.com

[Term Papers]

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