How to Create a Sustainable Job Search Schedule When You’re Unemployed

Job SearchGoal-Setting
Written By Emilie Aries

Episode 455 | Author: Emilie Aries

When you're job searching every day, how do you make sure seeking employment doesn’t take over your life?

Whatever the situation, searching for a new job is stressful and time-consuming. If you’re looking in your spare time outside of your current job, it’s easy to imagine it might be better if you just had that “one” focus. If you’re doing the full-time job search hustle, you face financial stressors and the temptation to never switch your brain out of Search Mode, which can be overwhelming in a whole other way. With job hunts taking many months or even a full year these days, sustainability in your search is key.

Two weeks ago, I covered how to create a sustainable job search plan when you’re also working full-time. Today, I’m sharing strategies on how to do the same when you are unemployed and searching for the perfect career opportunity. These are suggestions that you can tailor to your own biorhythms and strengths, and I hope they can help you approach this trying and tiring time with a bit more ease.

Strategy #1: Batch your tasks

The first tactic I strongly recommend is grouping similar tasks together. Psychology teaches us that switching costs—the mental energy we exert when we jump from task to task—can be a major drain that exhausts us more quickly than if we focus on one thing at a time.

Take scouring the job boards for example. Rather than letting yourself dabble in this task whenever the mood strikes—when you don’t feel like sending an email or when you’re supposed to be chilling on the couch watching a movie—choose one or two times each week when you do this task. If it’s Monday and Wednesday mornings, block out an hour or two to scroll through. When you find promising listings, flag them for application, but avoid the urge to dive immediately into that next step. Save that for a different dedicated block of time.

Strategy #2: Commit to a select list

Take a look at how many applications you’re putting out each week, and ramp up that number if you can. I recommend a minimum of two or three applications per week, but some people pump out as many as five a day, especially in January and September, which are known as peak hiring months. 

From the listings you earmarked during your job board time, prioritize the most promising opportunities and set deadlines for the completion of those applications. 

A caveat to this: don’t be tempted to sacrifice quality for quantity. You’re looking for a career opportunity that’s well-suited and fulfilling, so choose a weekly number that balances really putting yourself out there and continuing to do so with intention.

Strategy #3: One application at a time

I know I mentioned batching like tasks, but that doesn’t mean you should try to prep five different job applications at once. Instead, choose the posting at the top of your list from Strategy #2 and dive in. 

Here's the protocol I propose:

  1. Read the job description carefully to figure out which of your skills you need to emphasize.

  2. Clone your most recent resume (or rework it, if this is your first application in a year or more) and restructure it so that it fits into the narrative you want to emphasize.

  3. Then, take a stab at customizing your cover letter in a way that emphasizes that same narrative, too. 

    It’s easy and understandable to get self-obsessed when we’re applying for jobs—after all, we have no choice but to immerse ourselves in all the skills that make us great—but you aren’t the person you need to convince. Make sure the resume and cover letter you send is created with the audience in mind.

    We won’t go into cover letters in detail here, but I have plenty of episodes on this topic:

4. Then, scour your LinkedIn network for anyone who works for the company you’re applying to. Reach out to them—yes, even if they’re a stranger—ask them if they’d be willing to hop on a brief call to share their experience working for the organization, and float the idea of referring you for the job. This is a wonderful way to give your application a boost up the pile and raise the chance of it getting in front of the right eyes. I have a vintage but super helpful episode on this strategy for even more details on how to go about it: How To Have Effective Informational Interviews.

5. Finally, give your application some breathing room. If you have time, hold off for 24 hours before hitting send. By sleeping on it and coming back with fresh eyes, your subconscious brain has a chance to work away, and you’re more likely to identify some better phrasing and catch the typos. Most of us don’t create our best draft right off the bat, so give yourself some wiggle room to tweak.

Strategy #4: Change your scenery, change your energy

Like any work-from-home arrangement, job searching from your desk or couch day in and day out can be extremely isolating. Add to that the insecurity that sets in after weeks upon weeks of applying for jobs, and getting out of the house becomes even more important.

At times when I’m distracted and just don’t want to do the thing, I find that a bit of social pressure goes a long way—I don’t want my fellow coffee shop patrons to see me on Instagram when I’m obviously supposed to be working! 

This is also a great chance to sprinkle some strategic networking into your away-from-home activities. Set up lunches or coffee dates that will help you grow and strengthen your network. You never know which acquaintance will have the inside scoop on a great job opportunity or be able to introduce you to a contact at a promising organization.

Strategy #5: This is your full-time job, not who you are

When you are searching for work while unemployed, searching for work is your employment. Sure, it doesn’t pay great (read: at all), but it takes up at least the same amount of mental energy and, as such, it requires the same establishment of work-life boundaries as any other job.

Do your best to maintain regular working hours and fight the urge to always be searching. Whether your daily grind is 9 to 5 or noon to 8, giving yourself a bit of structure can do a lot to keep you productive and ensure your job search is sustainable for the long term. 

If you implement your own version of these strategies and make sure you’re putting out high-quality applications, your job search might not be easy, but it can be sustainable. Which of these strategies resonated most with you? Have you tried any of them or found your own alternatives? Visit the Courage Community on Facebook or our group on LinkedIn to share your experience.

  • [INTRO MUSIC IN]

    EMILIE: Hey, and welcome to Bossed Up podcast, episode 455. I'm your host, Emilie Aries, the founder and CEO of Bossed Up and today I want to continue our conversation from just two weeks earlier about how to create a sustainable job search routine.

    [MUSIC ENDS]

    But instead of looking at it from the perspective of someone who has to balance job searching with a full time job, which can be a challenge in and of itself, today we're going to look at the opposite, you know, side of the same coin, the flip side, really, which is what to do when you are a full time job seeker. When you're unemployed, you're searching full time. Perhaps you've got other hats that you wear, like caregiving responsibilities, but you're not holding down a full time job. And let me be clear, the grass is always greener on the other side. We always think like, oh, if only I had more time. If I didn't have to, you know, keep plugging away at this job I hate, then I would have enough time to search for the job I'd really want. And then if you're in the opposite situation, it's like, oh, my gosh, I'm a full time job seeker. I might not have income coming in, or if I do, it might be less than what I'm used to. Maybe it's unemployment income. Maybe it's got an end date in sight. There's a different level of anxiety involved. Even when you have an abundance of time, you might have scarcity of financial resources, or even if those are not relevant to you, one of the biggest challenges I hear from my job seekers that I coach through our Hired job search accelerator, is that when you're job searching full time, it can start to feel like your job search creeps into every aspect of your life. You know, it's something you're thinking about first thing in the morning when you wake up. It's what you're doing, you know, with one eyeball on Netflix at night, with your other eyeball on your phone, scouring the LinkedIn job boards, whatever it may be, it can be really easy for your job search to just take over your life.

    My goal for both situations, and this is where the conversation ended back on episode 453, all about job searching while holding down a full time job is to be really regimented, so that we can actually sustain ourselves in this job search. It's so important to have a routine that is sustainable, because the unfortunate reality is that the modern job search takes longer than it used to. So I hear from countless clients every year who've never had trouble finding a job before that. Oh my gosh, this is taking many more months than I had anticipated. Or but the opportunities I'm looking for aren't really there right now. So how do I navigate having to hold out for better opportunities that might not come right away?

    I myself just navigated a job search for the first time in over a decade. I get more into that back on episode 450, Entrepreneurship vs. Employment: Building a Blended Career. But the headline is I took a job, a full time job, for the first time in over a decade in early 2024. And it took me about a year to make that happen. So I'm not trying to scare anyone, but the statistics bear this out. It's just taking longer than what it used to. So if you're a full time job seeker, here are my top hacks, strategies, tactics to think about about how to get a handle on creating for yourself a sustainable job search routine. My one last disclaimer, I'll say before jumping in, is that different strokes for different folks here, right? Like, you need to play to your own innate strengths and you need to think about your own personal bio rhythms. Are you more of a morning person? Are you more of a night owl? What works for me might not work for you. So try not to compare yourself to other job seekers, but really know thyself when coming up with a job search routine that feels sustainable for you.

    Regardless, my first takeaway that is applicable, no matter what your personal situation might be, is I would encourage you to batch your tasks. You want to do like tasks at the same time, so similar tasks at similar times. This helps reduce switching costs, which is what psychologists refer to as the energy that we exert switching from m one task to the next. And for folks who are constantly multitasking, which is a big part of the job search these days, that can take up a lot of time and a lot of your limited energy. So I encourage you to scour job boards at a singular time or two a week, maybe every Monday morning and every Tuesday morning, or every Monday morning and every Wednesday morning, you have a blocked time in your calendar where this is my scouring the job search boards time and you might have links that you've saved. Here are my favorite job boards that are most relevant to my industry, so that you're just not doing that constantly in the background, but instead creating focused, dedicated time to look. As you're looking, if you see something you like, that doesn't mean you're about to start that application. You're going to continue looking, but you're going to save that link somewhere to help you keep track of what you want to apply for later. So batch your tasks together and you'll be much more efficient of a job seeker along the way.

    Now, once you've dedicated a specific time of the day or time of the week to scouring the job boards, I recommend you commit to the jobs that you're gonna apply for that week. And I do say jobs here because I think as a full time job seeker we need to start ratcheting up our KPI's, our expectations for our own ability to get applications out the door. If you are a full time job seeker, I would recommend you had, at a minimum, two to three job applications going out the door. I know job seekers who during the peak months for job searching, which are January and September, September sort of referred to as the second January of the year because that's when employers get really motivated to get those final hires finished before the calendar year comes to a close. I know job seekers who've applied to five jobs a day when they're job searching full time. So your own measuring stick for your success depends on your situation. But I always say, don't ever let quantity trump quality. I'm a big believer in submitting quality applications with every single attempt, not just succumbing to the easy apply button, because that does not work.

    So once you've scoured the job boards maybe one or two days a week, then you're going to compile the job descriptions that you want to commit to applying for that week and prioritize them and really commit to what days that week you're going to apply to which jobs? I get into this with further detail if you're interested in sort of how to create a job search tracker and my method for keeping all your job search resources really organized, which I know it's such a type “A” like, Virgo characteristic of mine, but I just think that staying organized in the job search is so imperative these days because people are applying for like hundreds of jobs these days. I did a whole episode last August on How to Keep Your Resumes and Cover Letters Organized for the Job Search, which is episode 413. I'll link to it in today's blog post and show notes. I highly recommend checking them out. But the big takeaway here is you first batch like tasks with like tasks. And second, you commit to what am I going to take tackle this week?

    When you're job searching full time, your job search is your job. So I want you to set your own deadlines because you're not going to have a boss looking over your shoulder looking for those deliverables. You've got to set your own deliverables up. So, you know, what does success look like for me this week? Otherwise, you're just going to feel like a failure. If you're not landing a job every week, which is just not how this works, you got to control for the variables that you can control, which is getting applications, quality applications, out the door.

    My next piece of advice is to take things one application at a time. Now, I know I just said batch like tasks together. That doesn't mean you should be updating your resume for five different jobs at the same time. Once you've committed to. Okay, Tuesday morning I'm going to get my first application of the week out the door. It's going to be for job a at employer ABC. I'm going to spend that morning rereading the job description, cloning my resume based on the past resumes I've submitted, or if you have to start over and recreate that resume, if this is the first time you've done it in a long time, which was true for me, and then I'm going to really immerse myself in the perspective of the employer. Based on this job description, what do I need to emphasize in my resume? And I'm going to clone that resume and then rewrite it, restructure it, reread it from top to bottom with their perspective in mind. Part of what misses the mark for so many job seekers is that we get so obsessed with ourselves. Because to be clear, this is a very self conscious act, selling yourself to employers that we can get too myopic, we can get too, like, egocentric in how we're viewing our skills, and we can bury the lead basically by not keeping our audience in mind. So when I'm rewriting my resume for a job, maybe it's a whole overhaul of the structure so I can emphasize the right and most important things that are most important to this job description based on how they wrote it. Or maybe it's just little tweaks because I've applied to lots of jobs that are very similar. It's going to depend on the opportunity itself while that perspective is still fresh in my mind, maybe I'll take a walk, take a lunch break, take a, you know, a brain break after 90 minutes of cranking on my resume, but then I'm going to come right back and write the COVID letter that goes with that resume.

    I used to be in camp, “Cover letters don't matter anymore”. In fact, I did a whole episode with Irene back in 2022 called How to Write A Meaningful Cover Letter for Today's Competitive Market, in which Irene and I kind of debated. Do cover letters matter? And, um, I was a skeptic. I was like, who cares about cover letters now? But considering how competitive a lot of the job markets that we're in are these days, I think a cover letter says so much about how committed you are to the application. Not including it makes you look like you don't actually care that much. And I also have plenty of podcast episodes written about how to make the cover letter writing process easy and quick, while still showing I care enough to write a cover letter for this job. In fact, it pairs very neatly with how you structure your resume. So I'll link to all those episodes in today's blog post and show notes as well.

    But I kind of tackle one application at a time by saying, I'm going to reread the job description, I'm going to customize my resume, I'm going to write a custom cover letter, and then I'm going to scour LinkedIn for anyone in my network who might work for this company. And I'm going to approach this as I, even if I'm reaching out to a stranger, I'm reaching out to a stranger who works at the company to ask them about their experience working for that company, to get a sense for how they like working for that company, and if possible, to set up a time to talk and then on that phone call or Zoom meeting, ask them if they'd be willing to put in a referral, an internal referral for me. In fact, a couple years back, I had a really helpful guest on, um, the podcast, Becky Bush, who's a career coach and a tech worker. Episode 153 this is way back in 2019 that gets into the strategy of, like, how you can go from total straight stranger on LinkedIn to having that person submit an internal referral for you, which greatly increases the odds of your application being seen highly, highly recommend that becomes a regular part of your application process because it benefits everyone.

    The person who's referring you, if you get hired, oftentimes gets a big fat bonus check, and you are way more likely for your application actually be seen by human eyes. And so I encourage you to put that into your routine for every single application and to maybe not submit the application until you have an internal referral secured. I don't want you to miss the boat, so don't wait too many days. I'm talking days, not weeks, here. But if you make that part of your process, you could say to them, “Hey, recruiter at company ABC, I'm getting ready to submit my application for this open position. Was wondering if you'd have a chance to connect briefly over the phone to talk about it.”, even if they say, no, I can't talk with you before you're in the process of applying, you can at least tell them, I'm applying so that they can look out for your resume. And again, you become more likely to be seen that way.

    So you're tackling all this one application at a time. One last thing I'll add about tackling one application at a time is you might want to give it 24 hours to sort of breathe. Here's what I mean by that. As a writer, I think everybody's a process writer. I don't think anyone gets the best draft in their first draft. And so maybe Tuesday morning is when I'm drafting all my assets for company ABC. That way I don't have to get so perfectionistic about it and tie it all up with a perfect bow. I can just get it out of my head, get it onto the page, get it done, and then I give myself until Wednesday morning to then reread it and submit. And so whenever I can give an application 24 hours to breathe and reread everything with fresh eyes before submitting, I'm much more likely to catch typos and just sort of, I don't know, put in a little moment of quality control because things percolate in the background of your brain when you're not actively thinking of them.

    Which brings me to my next point that I really encourage full time job seekers to embrace, and that is to change your scenery. Not only do I think it's really important to get yourself out of your house, because isolation and seclusion is not good for any of us. It's just not good. Especially when you're feeling insecure, as so many job seekers who are unemployed or job seeking full time are likely to feel insecure. I mean, it's normal. It's like you're putting yourself out there and no one's biting, and that can just make you feel invisible, which is maddening. So make yourself visible by being around people, preferably people you love, trust, and can hang out with and feel validated by. But at the very least, strangers will totally do the trick too.

    I'm the kind of person who, especially when I'm feeling very distracted, and this is going to look different for different folks based on neurodiversity. But when I'm feeling distracted and don't want to do the damn thing that I have to do, that I know I have to do, that I've committed to doing, a little bit of social pressure goes a really long way for me. So when I was struggling to study in college, if I parked myself in a Starbucks, as opposed to studying in my dorm room or in the library, if I parked myself on a Starbucks, then I would feel a little bit of shame if I pulled up Facebook on my laptop and was basically just wasting time instead of getting my work done. That little bit of public visibility made me much more likely to close down all my distraction tabs and get my work done. That doesn't work for everybody. You know, people are different in different ways. But if you need a little social pressure to stay focused, change your scenery, support preferably your small businesses. But if your finances are tight like they certainly were for me, I would order a green tea at Starbucks, which cost at the time like less than $2, and I would sit there for 4 hours getting my studies done. So think about how you can put yourself in the right places to just change your scenery, to change your energy when you're feeling in a funk.

    And furthermore, this is a great opportunity to think about, how can I sprinkle in strategic networking meetings throughout my work week? So if I'm job seeking full time, the job search is my job. So the lunches that I'm taking, coffee dates that I'm taking might be all about tapping my network and asking for help or growing my network. And both of those topics have their own dedicated related podcast. For further information, episode 141 and episode 435, which I highly recommend because networking is certainly a big part of our job search. It's not the only part, but it's a big part. And you can do both. You can make applications your priority while still sprinkling in strategic networking meetings that keep you feeling seen and feeling like a human and getting other people's perspectives while staying true to what is your primary objective, which is to get applications, high quality applications, out the door.

    And that brings me to my final point here. When you're a job seeker, your full time job is finding your next job. And I know it can feel tempting to like, enjoy the unemployment time and enjoy the unstructured nature of it all. I think that's bad advice. Not because you don't deserve a break. You certainly do. And the nine to five hustle particularly with a commute is no, like cakewalk. But I think about like, what's the point of structuring your job search? The point is to keep you and your goals your primary focus. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have fun or rest or leisure, but I am saying that for many people, it can be beneficial to maintain regular working hours. And so I like to believe that as a job seeker whose full time job is finding your next job, maintaining regular hours actually benefits you. Because you can close the laptop when the day is done, when the work day is done. So I don't recommend pulling twelve hour days on your job search. Put in an eight hour workday, close the laptop at a reasonable hour, and then try to maintain some semblance of healthy habits to keep you going.

    That means time with friends devoted to fitness and family and fun time. And sure, maybe some of your lunch meetings or coffee dates are just for leisure and fun, which I think should be part of our lives anyway. But what I'm trying to avoid here is the, I was up till midnight job searching last night because I don't think that helps folks, unless you're a night owl who sleeps till ten and that's like the best for your brain, do you, boo.

    But I really recommend a little bit of structure can go a very long way in sustaining. Sustaining a job search and making it productive and productive is key here. I don't want you to be flailing and I want you to be digging in quicksand. I don't want you to be wasting your time on vanity metrics that don't actually produce results. I want you to stay focused on applications, high quality applications, going out the door, and strategic network that advances your job search.

    For lots more tips on how to navigate the wildly overwhelming world that is the modern job search, head to bossedup.org/gethired. Get my on demand video course for job seekers in navigating today's market with an expert approach in finding the best next opportunity that's going to work for you.

    [OUTRO MUSIC IN]

    I would love to keep the conversation going. So weigh in via the Courage Community on Facebook or our Bossed Up group on LinkedIn. And until next time, keep bossin’ in pursuit of your purpose. And together, let's lift as we climb.

    [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]

Emilie Aries
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