A few years ago, I came across a startling statistic. Two-thirds of job seekers spend a mere 5 hours or less per week on their job search.
I can understand spending only 5 hours on your job search while you’re still employed, but if you’re unemployed, that’s just not good time management.
However, let me clarify something… if you’re an unemployed job seeker, I don’t mean to suggest that you should devote a full 40 hours per week to your job search either. I love to write, but I wouldn’t spend 40 hours per week only writing and nothing else.
So even if you love to search for a job (which I seriously doubt), you need balance the way you spend your time during your job search. Instead of “work/life balance,” I call this “job search/life” balance.
Work Smarter
No matter how many hours you spend on your job search, there are ways to work smarter rather than harder in order to get fast results… and achieve better job search/life balance, too. Here are three time management tips that can help:
1. Time Spent Online
Since only 13% of jobs are advertised, that means you and a whole lot of other job seekers are going for the same small pool of jobs online. Even though it’s a low return-on-investment activity, it’s still necessary to answering postings on job boards and at company websites. To manage your time more effectively, I suggest you block time to do this during the non-prime time spots on your daily calendar. Spend time on the computer responding to ads and doing whatever online research you need to do during the early part of the day, like from 8:30am to 10:00am, and then again in the late afternoon at around 2:30 or 3:00pm.
2. Time Spent Networking
Statistics on getting a job through networking vary between 33% to 80+%. Still, even the low end of that percentage range is significant. Networking is a critical job search strategy. So, since it’s such a high return-on-investment activity, it should be acted upon during the prime-time parts of your day. Not only is this smart for your energy expenditure, it’s very logical. Between the prime business day hours of 10:00am and 2:00pm, you’re most likely to interact with people. That’s when you’ll be able to schedule coffee and lunch dates, exchange emails, attend luncheon events, etc.
3. Time Spent Off
Studies prove that exercising increases your chances of getting hired quickly. So be sure to schedule it into your calendar. Also, make room on your calendar to enjoy yourself just like you did when you were fully employed. It’s also been shown that executives tend to hire most on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday… not Monday or Friday. Consequently, since Friday’s not the best day to be interviewing, why don’t you make that your personal reward day for the week’s successes?
Though you might still do some job search activities in the morning, meet a friend for lunch. Take some time off from your job search just like you might take time off from your job once you’re employed. Job search can be stressful. How you balance your time, energy and stress levels will influence how well you come across to your network and to prospective employers when you meet them. Give the impression of well-being, and you’ll be a more attractive job candidate.
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Angela Loëb has been in the career services field for over 20 years and is the author of two books about job search. Connect with her at http://about.me/angelarloeb or at the upcoming Austin HR event.
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