Why Job Hunting Is a Full-Time Job, and What to Do About It
In the aftermath of a global pandemic, many people have found themselves unemployed or vastly under-employed (not to mention nervous about whether their current company will recover) and are spending a lot of their time searching for a new role in a complex and competitive market.
If this is you, and you’ve found yourself job searching all day, every day, you may wonder what you did before with the rest of your time. After all, job hunting can be a full-time job in itself!
The average person spends about 11 hours a week on their job search. If this seems like a lot to you, then the recommended amount of time to spend will be a little shocking.
Views on how long you should spend vary—anywhere from five to 40 hours a week. This Forbes article splits the time it recommends into categories, like “recently unemployed” (30-40 hours), “miserable in your current role” (8-10 hours), or just “considering a career transition” (7-8 hours).
It’s also important to note that from start to finish, the average job hunt takes 24 weeks. So if you’re looking to make a change quicker than that, you’ll likely need to spend longer than the average of 11 hours a week looking—especially if you’re currently unemployed, because according to the Federal Bank of Boston, it gets significantly harder to find a new job after six months without one.
Not only do you need to put the hours in, but you have to make sure you spend those hours doing things that are effective. Job hunting is multifaceted—it requires time, effort, precision, and a clear plan.
Understandably, nobody wants to come home from their full-time job and spend hours online looking for their next move. It’s also understandable that if you have lost your job due to the pandemic or other reasons, staying motivated in your job hunt while stuck at home can be difficult.
That’s why it’s essential to take a step back and be realistic, not only about how much time you will spend but the value you will get from this time.
If you’re going to spend more than 10 hours a week looking for a job, or if you’re making it a full-time job in itself, you need to be proactive and go in with a plan.
Think about:
What you want to accomplish, whether professionally or personally. What are your wants and needs in regards to salary, career progression, and the like? Are you hoping to move up from your current role or perhaps make a horizontal move, or even change sectors and explore something new?
Why you want to accomplish it. As above, if you’re “miserable,” your current motivations will be different from just seeing what your next step might be. The same goes if you’re unemployed, which could really change your perspective.
What target you’re setting for yourself. Is the goal to have a job in x months’ time? Or a role with a specific salary or company, no matter how long it takes? Make sure you know what success looks like before you start, and set a time limit to revisit your progress.
Next, plan what needs to be done, whether that’s spending 35 or even just a couple of hours a week, to maximize your chances.
Time should be split into:
Searching for roles on LinkedIn and jobs boards like Indeed
Engaging with recruiters and staying in touch with them regularly
Writing your cover letters and tailoring your resume
Developing your personal brand and contributing articles to LinkedIn
Reaching out to people within your network to ask for help and support
Radically expanding your network, especially to include those working at companies you are targeting
Researching companies and specific jobs that interest you. You might be interested to learn about new roles that don’t exist at your current/most recent company and hadn’t been created the last time you were in the market
Making sure you are interview ready
Preparing for interviews—and doing them!
Job searching can be overwhelming, but hopefully, if you can put into perspective what you want out of the process—and be realistic about how long this will take—you should see some great results.
If you’re currently job hunting and are feeling a little lost, please get in touch.