Ask-A-Career-Coach: Prioritizing Your Job Search Activities

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart™

I recently coached a young professional who wants to change careers but has done nothing with his search because he is juggling working full-time and attending graduate school. He feels like he doesn’t have any extra time, so his $64,000 question for the session was: “if I am limited in what I can do, what should I be prioritizing?”

Your best time management strategy will depend on your specific circumstances, your working style, your timetable, and your search goals. But here are some considerations to get you started:

Use your circumstances. This person had a brand name graduate school with a strong career services office. Part of his search should be to learn exactly what resources are available to him, including coaching and workshops, information products and research material, networking events and job leads (with deadlines entered into his calendar in advance).

Follow your best work style. You may not have a lot of choices on when you work if you are juggling a job and school, but given a choice of getting up early or staying up late to do some job search activities, pick the time that’s best for you. Don’t forget that some things have to be done during normal business hours so block off lunch hours and vacation time for your search.

Time your search to your life. If you are not available till May when grad school ends, then that needs to be clear in your approach to prospective employers now. There is plenty to do in a job search, so starting early is a good thing but understand your time constraints and manage your leads accordingly.

Plan your search to your goals. Career change is harder (and therefore typically a longer search) than just a job change. You will need to set aside more time for research and networking in a career change because you are an outsider trying to break in. Breaking into management or the executive ranks also adds length and difficulty to your search. Your focus will be on branding and positioning and the due diligence needed to get these things right for your market.

In the end, what you do specifically depends on the many personal factors above. So as you think about prioritizing your search activities, get clear on where you are now and where you are going and prioritize the activities that match the direction you’re heading.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is a career coach, writer, speaker, Gen Y expert and co-founder of SixFigureStart™, coaches jobseekers using a recruiter’s perspective of what employers really want and how the hiring process really works. Formerly in corporate HR and retained search, Caroline most recently headed University Relations for Time Inc and has also recruited for Accenture, Citibank, Disney ABC, and others. Caroline is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Professional Development at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a life coach.