Job Search Expectations + Approach To Manage Stress

There are so many jobs out there and the job market is HIGHLY competitive. That said, for the average job search these days, people generally apply to a minimum of 100 jobs. As hard as it may be, try not to take it personally if you aren’t getting positive feedback after the first 100 or so applications. It’s not necessarily a reflection of your skillset, but just a reminder that the market is truly competitive and a warning that you might need to adjust your job search strategy to get better results.

Knowing all of this, I created a tool called the Job Search Accountability Tracker that I use to coach my clients and help them with keeping track of all the different jobs they are applying to and people they are networking with. It’s important to stay organized with high level details from all these interactions to do well in the interview process and to look back on to see what’s working well and what’s not, so you don’t waste your precious time. 

Lucky for you, next I’m going to walk you through step by step on how to set up your own Job Search Accountability Tracker to aid in your search. Please note, that the purpose of this tool is to help you and not hinder you, so please make adjustments as needed that best fit your personal style. Alright, let’s get into it!

• First, start by creating a spreadsheet in your software of choice. My personal preference is Google Sheets.

• Next, label the first tab “Job Applications” and create a table with the following columns: 

  • Company → The name of the company you’re applying to

  • Role → The role you’re applying for

  • Date Applied → The date you applied to the job

  • Notes → Any relevant notes that stand out to you, like the job description, interview notes, feedback from recruiters, salary, etc. It’s a really good idea to add a link to the job posting somewhere because sometimes companies will remove them during the interview process and it’s nice to be able to reference that information

  • Response → Yes/no response when you hear back if the company wants to interview you or not

The purpose of this tab is to hold yourself accountable to applying to your daily goal and to help you easily recall details of the jobs you’ve applied to whenever recruiters contact you. Above is an example from my most recent search to show you how I’ve used this in the past. I also color coded different rows to help me quickly see which companies I had heard back from (i.e. red when the company told me no, orange if they wanted to interview me, and green if I received an offer).

• Lastly, label the second tab “Networking” and create a table with the following columns: 

  • Name → Name of the person you’re networking with

  • Key Learning → Meaningful details or advice that stood out to you in the conversation 

This tab will be a place for you to keep track of the different people you meet and capture key learnings and any interesting information that you learn from speaking with them.

In summary, there are a lot of jobs out there and a lot of competition. Please try to not beat yourself up over the job search taking longer than expected. Landing your next job all comes down to consistency and strategy. Use the approach discussed in this book to set a daily or weekly goal for job applications and networking conversations to hold yourself accountable and get closer to landing your next position!

Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on Networking Tips!!