Let's face the truth.  If you are out of work, you are one out of every ten people around you. That means when you apply for a job, you are one in several hundred who want that job just as badly as you do. Actually, for the average job seeker, the odds are there are people who actually want the job more than you do and are in this race to win it. The people I find getting the jobs have disciplined themselves to focus like a laser on their goal. They manage their time and have organized their life. They understand a job search is, in itself, the single most important job in their life and they intend to hit that objective out of the park.  There are two kinds of strategy when it comes to job seeking.

Strategy #1

Monday –

7am - You wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, get a brief workout at the gym or walk around the block, and dress as though you are going to work.

9am - You spend no more than half an hour online in the job boards to see if there are any jobs you may have missed through your networking. These are not the huge mega job boards; they are the job boards specific to what you are looking for. Greenlightjobs.com for entertainment, Dice.com for IT, and Theladders.com for executive jobs are good starting points and are far better than the monsters out there.

9:30 - You work the phones, calling people in your network. You are not asking for jobs, you are spending time catching up with people and learning about what is going on in their world. You look for ways to help them out and inquire about other people they know who might need your skills.  You are asking to be introduced to people. You are trying to learn about opportunities before they become a job posting. 

11:30 - You reach out to recruiters in your industry and ask them about searches they may be doing.

12:30 - You go to lunch with a friend or one of your networking connections. You do not lunch in your home if you can help it. You get outside and away from the work environment and you eat healthy.

After lunch - You spend the afternoon tweaking your resume for whatever leads you unearthed from your morning’s efforts and customizing your cover letters to look personal and professional. These are sent by 3pm and the rest of the afternoon is spent doing follow up calls to let people know you have sent out your resume. You schedule any phone interviews for tomorrow between 10am and 2pm, which are the prime productivity hours when you are most active and clear in your thinking.

After 6pm - You are done. You spend time around people, friends, and family or doing whatever you normally enjoy doing in life.

Rinse and Repeat.

NOW with that being said, if you just read this and groaned because this is so much work, I have an alternative work schedule which is equally effective (sort of).

Strategy #2

7am – You notice the clock has changed from 6:59 to 7:00 and that each minute it looks different. Marvel at this fact for a moment, then roll over and sleep in till 10am (after all, you have earned it because being unemployed is just like vacation only the government check isn't as big).

10am – You finally get up, do not change clothing as this will only increase your laundry pile and, therefore, require detergent. You know the cost of three loads of laundry is the equivalent of one beer and you are being exceptionally frugal by keeping the pile low. Drink a beer in celebration of your wisdom.

10:30 – You hop on Monster.com, careerbuilder.com or any other mega board and type in the keywords for the kind of job you want. You make sure you promote yourself from your last job; so, if you were a supervisor, you make sure to look for Manager or Director positions. Heck, you might even want to shoot for a VP role, as well. With a simple click of the button, you apply for every one of the 3000 jobs that come up. You make sure you send out the exact same resume to everyone because you spent at least 35 minutes working on it and they deserve to see you at your best.

11:45 – You make sure the answering machine is on so you don't miss the undoubted flood of calls which are sure to follow your resume internet explosion, then head over to McDonalds for the tried-and-true double quarter pound cheeseburger that is (in your opinion) not only inexpensive, but the staple of the American diet.

1:00 – You network extensively with the concession stand hottie at the movie theater as you go to the movies with other equally skillful unemployed buddies and, demonstrating your discipline, skip the butter on the trashcan sized popcorn you just ordered. Justify your health by drinking the five gallon Diet Coke which, if I remember movie theater prices, costs about the size of my mortgage payment.

With your workday complete, settle down at home with your five Netflix DVDs and spend the evening knowing that your chances of getting a job are effectively about even with Octo-Mom’s chances of having a normal balanced relationship.

If you are attracted to the second strategy, I say "Go For It". It will take you out of the competition for good jobs, making finding a good job easier for people who need them. Getting a job IS a job. How you structure your search will tell me what kind of employee you are. That is why, when I interview a perspective candidate, I always ask them to outline how they conducted their job search. To those who "get it", good luck and let me know how I can help. To those choosing the alternative...enjoy the movie. 

Copyright © 2011 Mike Baumgartner | HR | Consulting | Coach |  Human Resources | Search - CEO, Worklife Survival Center LLC