How do you think about time management when you’re fully employed? If you’re like most people, you think about how you can best manage your time to produce the best results. To achieve that, we read articles and books, attend workshops, and regularly discuss how we prioritize our time with colleagues to hone in on getting the absolute best results.
Why Job Seekers Often Struggle With Effective Time Use
A funny thing happens when we become unemployed. Suddenly, for an objective that we desperately want (to be employed again), but a process most of us have a hard time getting excited about or are proficient in (looking for a job), we tend to keep to ourselves and not employ the best strategies to achieve our objective. We sit at home and fill out applications or tweak our resume for the 79th time thinking that paying attention to these steps, without networking (which most people don’t enjoy) will pay off. And then we wonder why we don’t get the results we want, and in addition, we feel like we have NO time to do anything else! Usually, there’s never enough time to do everything we would like to or need to do, and we rather easily conclude that time is not our friend.
Statistically speaking, the very best strategy and way to spend your time is networking, in every possible way you can. I’ll leave the stats on this for your AI or Google search, but all the numbers I’ve ever seen, along with my own personal experience, point to this approach being the primary area to focus on for your job search.
How to Make Time Work For You During Unemployment
With all that said, this blog isn’t about the best job search strategies or how to network better. It’s about maximizing your time while being unemployed, so let’s dive into some ways to ensure that time can actually be your friend!
Rethinking What Really Matters in Your Job Search
First, let’s shift our thinking into what really matters about time in your job search. Yes, prioritizing job search strategies is important, and you’ll want to ensure you’re investing your time in the right areas, but let’s think about what you’re hoping to achieve and how you might measure that. Typically, we tend to measure in terms of hours spent and activity goals we strive to accomplish (aka number of networking meetings, follow up conversations, and time spent on resume tweaks), but could you agree with me that all that matters can’t be measured? For example, how do you measure energy, spirit, trust, unity, and love? For job transition, as Richard Boles points out in his best-selling book, “What Color Is Your Parachute?,” he believes we all should be looking at how we can experience a “life-changing job hunt.” How can you actually measure that? I contend you can’t, but you’ll know it when you experience it! And that means spending your time differently than our paradigms would suggest.
How Unstructured Time Impacts Job Seekers
A second factor to consider with time is that you’re moving from regular rhythms with work, family, and rest to completely unscheduled time. Going from an 8:00 – 5:00 job, or whatever schedule you worked, to being completely free to do whatever you want is both a blessing and a curse. No set hours, no deadlines, and no colleagues might at first sound terrific, but most find it challenging. The prioritization of your time can quickly default to those activities which come easiest to us vs. those which will give us a life-changing job hunt. Having a conversation with a Crossroads Guide or good friend who’s knowledgeable about job transition to outline some goals and objectives for your search is a great place to start. Here are some broad areas to consider while establishing some based goals for your search:
- How grounded are you in your personal purpose and values?
- What is the current job market for your skills and experience?
- How well networked are you in the areas you would like to pursue?
- How rooted are you in replacing your job vs. exploring new careers?
- What are your financial needs or constraints?
- What family adjustments are you potentially seeking to make (aka more time with your family)?
Treating Your Job Search Like a Full-Time Job
Third, the reality is that your job transition is a full-time job. I’ve seen many people who think that pursuing a new job is a part-time gig, or they think that landing a new job won’t take that much time. Both perspectives are not the most prudent way to approach your transition. In fact, I’ve heard statements like, “I’m going to take the summer off, and then I’ll work on my transition,” (ok if that can fit with your goals above) or “I’m going to stop working on my transition during the holidays because no one is hiring then (just not a true statement, and the holidays can be one of the best times to network!). Plan on your job hunt being full-time with overtime. The to do lists are endless, and for most people, being organized and methodical through a search doesn’t come naturally.
The Power of Reflection in Job Transition
Next, let’s go a bit deeper with bullet #4 from above. Exploration is a wonderful word for job transition and an even better practice. A good friend of mine, Art Hill, a former university professor, once shared with me, “We don’t learn from experience. We learn when we reflect upon that experience.” Allowing yourself some time to reflect upon your experiences and combine that with what I refer to as “due process” thought and action around your purpose, values, passions, skills, giftings, and abilities is a very healthy way to gain perspective on who God made you to be. A couple Scriptures to think about:
- Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
- Isaiah 25:1 also states, “Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.”
- Proverbs 16:9 confirms, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Getting grounded through His Word, listening for His promptings through the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing time for reflection, and then putting all that into action with networking with people who might have good perspectives to offer on your reflections and learnings is a wonderful way to explore what the next job might be.
Aligning Your Schedule With Your Personal Energy Levels
Fifth, fully consider when you are at your best. Put another way, are you a morning person or a night person? 🙂 Planning your time appropriately for the activities that take focus and deeper thinking (resume revisions, crafting a thank you note or follow up email) vs. lighter work (networking conversations, contact database work, or practicing interview questions). Even with what I just outlined, that’s how I define those activities, however you may outline them differently. Each of us is unique, so go with what works best for you.
How to Review Your Week for Your Job Search Progress
Finally, do a weekly review of what you did and what results you achieved, factoring in how you truly feel about those results. Here’s what I mean. Let’s say over the past week, I think back to how I invested my time and come up with the following hours allocation:
- Networking conversations – 5
- Networking prep – 3
- Networking reach outs – 3
- Networking travel – 3
- Resume review – 2
- Interview prep – 3
- Exploration reading / reviewing – 5
- Exploration journaling – 2
- Exploration Crossroads Guide consult – 1
- Physical workouts – 5
That totals up to 32 hours. If you’re like me, you may wonder where the rest of the 40 hours went, and that’s ok and normal. Next week, do a daily review to better remember. 🙂
Using Reflection Scores to Improve Each Week
Once you have this review summarized, think about the results you achieved through those activities and how you feel about each one. Perhaps give yourself a subjective score of 1-5 on each one. Remember, many of these won’t necessarily be objective results, but subjective ones. For example, you may have had a phenomenal networking meeting with a decision maker at a target company which makes you feel like it was a 5. Or you may feel that the networking prep time you did wasn’t as fulfilling as it could have been, so you give it a 3. However you score everything, reflect and learn, and then purpose how you might improve.
Time can be your friend, and you can have a life-changing job hunt. Looking for God’s direction and remembering He is WITH you through everything is the foundation. Blessings!
Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.
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