You’ve heard the phrase, looking for a job is a full-time job, right? I’ve probably said it multiple times in my previous blogs. What happens when you’re working a full-time job and trying to find a new job? Should you quit so you can focus 100% on looking for a new role?
Well hold your horses. (I’m not sure why that’s still a phrase since not too many people use horses to get around daily. I don’t even know one person with a horse now that I think about it. Anyway, I digress.) You don’t need to do anything drastic like quitting your job so you can search for something that you like better. While it does take a lot of effort to find a new job, it’s not necessarily a 40-hour week of searching.
If you’re someone who’s still employed and want to start looking for something else, here are a few ways you can do it without quitting your day job.
Set Up A Schedule
Many people decide that they want to look for a new job but never actually take the time to look. I get it, working a full-time job is draining and when you come home, most days you want to just eat a bucket of fried chicken and watch the latest episode of The Dark Side of The Ring….Okay maybe that’s what I would want to do but you get the point.
Hopefully you aren’t working 18 hours a day and can squeeze in an hour or two to focus on your job search. If not, you may want to evaluate some other areas in your life and figure out how you can get 1 or 2 hours a day to job search.
Having a set time every day that you are going to dedicate to the hunt is a great way to hold yourself accountable and keep the ball rolling.
Set Goals For Yourself
Similar to setting up a scheduling, creating goals for yourself is extremely important. If you just come home willy nilly every night and are all over the place in your job search, maybe look for jobs on a few websites and then call it a night you will most likely struggle to get results.
You need to shoot for a certain amount of applications per day, per week, and per month that you want to aim for. Now some days, you may get stuck doing an application that takes an hour because they are asking 6 security questions to create a log in, and you can’t remember your second favorite ice cream or pizza topping. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but you should be holding yourself accountable.
If you need to reward yourself at the end of the week for hitting your goals, do that….see you can have that bucket of fried chicken after all…just apply to 20 jobs during the week or whatever the number is you set for yourself.
Have A Plan
I think it was the Joker from The Dark Knight who said he was an agent of chaos. Don’t be an agent of chaos and just apply to the first job you see because the application process seems quick or it’s a remote job. Have a plan for how you are going to approach your job search.
This is extremely important when you have limited time, because if you set aside 2 hours for yourself a night and spend an hour and 50 minutes watching Sebastian Maniscalco stand up comedy videos on YouTube, you won’t be spending too much time searching for jobs. Time can fly when you don’t want it to, and before you know it, the days can turn to weeks and the weeks can turn to months and you’ll be in the same position you’ve been in and be frustrated.
While these are just a few tips, they’re extremely important for people who are working and trying to find the time to search for new opportunities. You need to treat your job search like Tom Brady treated the Atlanta Falcons in the second half of the Superbowl, be laser focused and intent on winning. (Can you tell I’m a Tom Brady fan? If not go back and read just about every other blog I’ve written, he somehow finds his way in them).
My point is, be focused and intentional in what you do and how you approach your search. Being strict to your plan only benefits you so get out there and find a new job.
If you have any strategies that you’ve used while searching for a job with a full-time job, feel free to let me know in the comments section.
The Workin' Parent 