Ask-A-Recruiter: How To Find Time For A Search
Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart
Between interviews, networking, researching companies, canvassing job boards, and following up with recruiters, a job search takes as much time as my job. I feel like I need to quit before I start looking. Yet, traditional advice says the best time to look is when you’re employed. How am I supposed to fit a job search into my schedule?
Recruiters and employers prefer the currently employed, even if you have a perfectly good reason to be unemployed. You are in-the-know. You have access to competitor information. You have an existing network that can be tapped for candidate referrals for the recruiter and/or new business for the employer. Therefore, quitting is an absolute last resort. Besides, if you have to quit to take on a job search, then what would you do if a special work project arose or a promotion came up that required increased responsibility?
On one hand, this is a math and logistics problem. You have 24 hours per day that you need to allocate toward your various obligations, including your job search. There are certain things that can only be done at certain times (e.g., returning phone calls, interviewing). Therefore, the short answer to your time management conundrum is that you itemize where you’re currently spending time, see where you can cut things out to make room for your search, and block out periods as needed for the time-specific search activities. As a coach, one of my first exercises with new clients is to audit their existing time, money and energy expenditures to identify what resources we have to dedicate to the search.
On the other hand, this is a psychology problem. The longer explanation for a job search time management conundrum is that inertia, fear, anxiety, and other unpleasantness is exposed by a job search. A job search requires a tremendous amount of initial effort to launch and then even more continued effort to execute till completion. If you are not sure why you are looking, if you are second-guessing what your interests are, or if you have other priorities, then it will be that much harder to start and sustain your search. So, if you are not getting traction with your current search or you are unable to even start, before you rearrange your schedule ask yourself first if you really want to do this. As a coach, we very specifically define a client’s targets first before anything else (sometimes it’s a job search but many times it becomes something else) because we need to know before we start where we’d like to finish.
Maybe you need a new hobby, not a new job. Maybe you need to reconnect with old friends. Maybe you need to take better care of yourself. If you are not finding the time for your search, maybe you don’t care enough about it. That’s okay, but stop second-guessing yourself and just redirect your efforts to other more productive pursuits for right now. Once you take care of your competing priorities, you can come back to your job search with a renewed dedication.
Learn how to maximize your time, money and energy with personalized, 1:1 coaching with SixFigureStart. Contact Caroline at 212-501-2234 or caroline@sixfigurestart.com for a complimentary coaching consultation.
