Timing can play an influential role in the success of your job search. Factors like budget, seasonal decreases in business demand, or common times for taking vacations can affect the number of available positions or length of hiring process. Get your timing right and create your job search calendar with these tips:
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Select Optimal Hiring Times
The first step to creating a comprehensive job search calendar is to narrow down the times of the year in which hiring is more likely. Since many companies receive fresh budgets at the start of the year, January and February are prime months, while hiring tends to taper off in the summer and the holiday season in November and December. However, optimal hiring times may vary depending on specific industries and fields, so tailor your calendar to fit your employer goals.
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Determine Timeliness of Tasks
From networking to updating your resume to looking for openings and filling out applications, there are a lot of tasks that are involved in a job search. Consider the optimal hiring months, and then clarify when each task would need to be completed for you to be totally ready to apply by then.
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Build in Lead Time
Another thing to keep in mind when creating your job search calendar is your current workload and lifestyle, so you can develop a realistic timeline. For example, if you have a full time job and only have a limited amount of time per day/week to devote to job search related activities, you may need to give yourself more lead time for completing activities than if you are unemployed.
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Plan a Routine
Once you have narrowed down what you need to do for your job search and how long it will take, use that information to plan a routine. Do you want to devote certain days of the week to job searching, or a particular time slot each day? Figure out what works best for you, and commit to having it a part of your regular routine.
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Set Your Schedule
Make your job search calendar official by actually setting and recording your schedule. It may be easiest to work backwards from your optimal hiring months, and fill in your deadlines and regular routine tasks. For example, if you want to apply for jobs by March, your calendar would have looking for available jobs and applying in that month, while February is devoted to updating your resume and networking. Then for each month, block out time in your schedule for your daily/weekly job search routine.
Start Your Job Search with PrideStaff!
Are you ready to get your job search started? Turn to PrideStaff San Jose. As a staffing firm serving San Jose employers, we specialize in connecting candidates to the available positions that align with their personal objectives and skill sets. Search our database of current open positions to get started.
