Confessions of a Job Search Fanatic

target Okay, so I admit it – I’m a fanatic with job search (and, therefore, this blog). When I’m looking for a job I’m obsessed. A victim of the financial services implossion last year (yes, I admit it), I found myself without a job on October 30 – arguably the worst time you could be looking for a job in a good year (let alone what we’ve been through).

So what did I do? I became a job search fanatic and I found a job in two plus months in my industry (in NY) at a slightly higher salary. I spent 10 hours a day and went on countless interviews.

So “who cares?” you say, “how does that help me?”. I’m going to give you a play by play of how I spent my days looking for a job. If it worked for me it can work for you. So here goes.

First, start with my Job Search Marketing Toolkit:

So what comes next? Plan your day out with a number of small goals. This makes it easy to achieve the goals and also provides positive forward motion, even if the goals are small:

Keep a list to keep track of which sites you’ve visited. Include your username and password for each site. You think you will remember them but you won’t. Also include the last date you visited
ALWAYS return calls as soon as possible, start off your day doing this
Review your top 5 job search sites
Check jobs on LinkedIn
Respond to emails as appropriate (and related)
Research, research, research – making a list of companies you would like to work for
Register on 3-5 company websites
Register on 3-5 job search sites
Send your resume to 3-5 recruiters/headhunters
Use job agents and leverage technology
Register where you can and make sure you upload your resume
All done with every list known to man (not likely)? Recycle the list, revisit the job search boards and try new searches

So, where to get some of the items above? Use my research tools:

Company Career Sites – use this list until you’ve run out of names, then check my newer posts on this.
Job Search Boards – Another list, another resource – Use it!
Recruiters – A list of recruiters, pick a few each day

Does this fill ten hours a day? Probably not, since I’ve done most of the reseach for you and assuming you work through all of my lists, start to build your own.

Good luck in your search.