Lesson 1
Structure Your Search Week
Organise your time to balance research, networking and application submission.
Set your weekly metrics
Avoid burning out by treating your search as a 20-hour work week. Aim for three high-quality applications rather than twenty generic ones. Block out Monday for role research, Tuesday and Wednesday for tailoring documents, and Thursday for networking. Use Friday to follow up on previous submissions.
The tracking system
Create a spreadsheet with columns for: Company Name, Role, Contact Person, Application Date, Status, and Follow-up Date. Colour-code these rows by status: pending, interviewed, or rejected. This visualises progress and prevents you from missing follow-up windows. If you haven't heard back in ten days, mark it for a follow-up email. Do not leave the 'Follow-up Date' column blank. Review your board every Sunday to plan the following week. This prevents the 'scattergun' approach and ensures that you remain consistent even when you feel discouraged by silence from recruiters.