You hate your job, you're underpaid, and you want nothing more than to find a new job—but you're so busy with work and life that you swear you can't find time to actively job search.
But oh, you do have time!
Not having 3-4 hours a day to dedicate to your job search doesn't mean you should give up completely. There are ways you can be an active job seeker while still dedicating most of your time to your current job and your non-work life. Here are four quick and easy suggestions:
- Dedicate 30 minutes a day to update your resume. If you have a recently updated resume that's only missing your current role and achievements, take 30 minutes each day to add a bullet to the experience list. Start with the job title and dates, and continue until you have a satisfactory experience listing. Also, remember to remove any irrelevant or outdated (15+ years) positions and double-check your phone number, mailing address, and email address for accuracy.
But, if your resume is seriously outdated and you don't have time to work on it yourself, consider hiring a professional resume writer to do it for you.
- Sign up for daily job alert emails. All you have to do is enter your email address and the keyword(s) for positions you're interested in, and the job board does the rest of the work. You can do this with Indeed or SimplyHired (but you have to log in first). To set up alerts with Monster, you need to complete a few more steps: Sign in, start a job search, then click the Save This Search link at the top of the page. Fill in the fields and select a frequency for emails under the "Email me results" dropdown menu. Lastly, you can set up alerts with CareerBuilder by signing in and clicking the Setup Job Alert link under the Find Jobs tab.
- Carry "job search business cards" with you wherever you go. It's a bad idea to tell someone "Call me if you hear of any openings" while handing over a professional business card from your current job. Instead, take 10 minutes from your day to create a "job search business card," using the info from your newly updated resume. When you bump into someone who could help you find a job, don't be afraid to whip out the card and pass it on with a good word.
- Set up Google alerts. This is similar to setting up job board alerts, but it covers company web sites that might not show up in job board results. To use this feature for your job search, enter the job title you would like to receive email alerts for. Examples: Customer Support Job Opening, or Metal Engineer Position. Then select the type of content and how often you want to receive the alerts, and create an alert. Repeat for each position you might be interested in.
What happens when you find a job opening you like?
If you followed the 30-minute resume update plan, your resume is ready for potential employers. All you have to do is tweak the wording of the resume to match the employer's terminology, write a targeted cover letter (which may take an hour if you're starting from scratch; less if you use Pongo's Cover Letter Builder with sample text), and apply to the job. From that point on, making time for interviews is completely up to you!
Have you ever had a hard time making time to job search?
RELATED LINKS
Are You Unemployed and Happy or Employed and Miserable?
Job Search Virgin's Guide to Finding New Jobs Online
How to Get Time Off for a Job Interview