AIU Online CareerPointers Time is the most precious element of human existence. The successful person knows how to put energy into time and how to draw success from time. --Denis Waitley
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  Finding Time In Busy Lives
Finding Time and Being Organized for a Successful Job Search
Where does your job search fall on your list of things to do every day? With school, current work responsibilities, family commitments and other daily tasks all weighing on your shoulders, it's understandable that you may not find enough time to complete a successful job hunt.

Finding the time to conduct an effective job search is not as impossible as it may sometimes feel. There are a lot of steps you can take to make finding that perfect opportunity fit into your daily schedule with ease.

Make it a habit. Although it's great to utilize any extra free time you may have to sneak a peek at the employment boards, you should really make a point to include your job search in your schedule every day. This way you will always have that time blocked off for this purpose, instead of over-scheduling your day and ending up putting it off. In the beginning of the day or week take a look at what you have in your calendar and put aside the time to conduct your search, this will keep you on track and in the right mind set.

Cut it out. Are there times when you could be job searching and you aren't? Do you not have an extra minute to spare? Chances are you do have extra time; you just need to re-evaluate your daily schedule and see if there is anything, that for this period of time, you could cut down or put on hold in order to have time to find your dream job. It may seem inconvenient now, but you won't regret the time you put in and it will really pay off in the future.

Stay up to date. Your résumé and cover letter are the keys to your job search. In order to be more efficient when searching and applying for positions, you need to keep your information updated. If you learn a new skill or take on new responsibility at work, make sure to update your résumé immediately. This way when you go to send it out, you don't have to worry about adding something new, you can just attach or upload and you're good to go! The same goes for résumés posted on job boards. Make sure to consistently refresh your résumé on these sites. Not only will you avoid the risk of missing out on a position, but it will bring your résumé back up to the top of the list for employers to see.

Use the grapevine. You don't have to be sitting in front of your computer to use your time effectively in your job search. Utilize other events, such as school functions, social events, and family outings to network and talk with others about your search. Someone might know of the perfect job opening for you and will be able to put the good word in. If anything, you will have an extra set of eyes and ears to assist you in your hunt. If you are currently employed, make sure you are cautious in who you are speaking with regarding your search. As a general rule, you should know your audience before going into networking mode.

Get an agent. Many, if not all of today's most popular job boards, as well as a lot of the smaller ones have an option to set up a job search agent. Job search agents will help you cut out the time of entering in all of your criteria such as job title, location, etc. every time you want to look for positions on that site. The job agent will save this information the first time around, so that you only have to sign-in and click on your agent to see all of the available positions for your search. Even better are the search agents that email you directly on a daily and weekly basis with open positions that fall into your search categories.

Ask for help. Career Services can assist you with resume preparation, career search and online job assistance, and can also lend an ear and some friendly advice if you have questions or need some direction in your search.

Just following even a few of these guidelines for your job search will leave you feeling less stressed, more organized and take the overwhelming "Where do I start?" sense out of the process.


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Time Management
Effective Stress Management Techniques

Balancing School and Work
In Focus
Time Management
Finding Time and Being Organized for a Successful Job Search
Effective Stress Management Techniques
Balancing School and Work


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