A job search is a project. It has a start (when you decide to look for a job), and an end (your first day at your new job). So, manage it like it's a project.
Here are things you might do:
- Give yourself an iteration length. I find that timeboxes help me focus my work, and they will help you too. If you feel overwhelmed, make a list of the tasks or accomplishments you want to complete in a timebox, such as one or two weeks. Now, you can go ahead and do those tasks.
- Know what tasks you've accomplished and what you still have left to do. If you thought you would send out 20 resumes and you did, celebrate that. This means you need to track your work in some way. Use a spreadsheet or stickies on the wall, something that helps you see accomplished work.
- Ask for a review. Just as you would ask for a review of your technical work, ask someone to review your resume, and maybe even your cover letter, if you have common pieces of your cover letter for multiple positions.
- If you ask every potential employer some common questions, write them down, so you have them available to you. This is like the checklists or standard things you do in a software project.
- Know when to stop with a particular position. You'll send a bunch of resumes that may not even be answered. Decide how many times you might inquire about your resume. Stop after that number.
- Make sure you write thank you notes after an interview.
- If you have an extended job search, consider a retrospective every few weeks to see if you could try anything different in your search.
Once you've landed a job
and you start, your job-finding project is over. Put away all the in-process work and celebrate the end of the project.
