Strategizing A Successful Job Search
I recently came across a Twitter thread where people were venting about their difficult job search experiences. Some people are searching full-time and struggling to balance their scheduled interviews. Others are attempting to hold down their current job while looking for a new one with a better environment.
The saying that your job search is a full-time job in itself couldn’t be more true. It’s a balance between finding companies that you’re interested in, reaching out and communicating with people in those companies, and prepping for phone screens and code interviews all while trying not to burn out. In the world of software engineering, it’s not uncommon to have to go through 4-6 interviews for one company. Candidates have noticed a trend in the increasing number of interviews - up to nine interviews at some companies.
So how does one manage this full-time job seeker role? Not by endlessly scrolling through LinkedIn, tirelessly applying to listings, hoping to line up multiple interviews with different companies. Without the right strategy, there’s a high probability that you’ll reach job search burnout pretty quickly.
Instead, start your job search with these two key tactics in mind:
- Implement rituals for staying sane
- Break the process down into job search tasks
My Successful Job Search Strategy
I’m not a fan of the traditional job search. I don’t know anyone who is. It never yielded results for me. Keeping track of all my applications was a nightmare, and the overall process was very discouraging. Instead, I’m a fan of job seeking with intention and reverse recruiting for myself. This approach requires you to get into the right mindset and stay proactive versus reactive. So here are a few tips on how to do just that.
Rituals for Staying Sane
Job search burnout is a thing. If our strategy isn’t sustainable, the chances of us staying consistent with our search will decrease, thus increasing our chances of getting discouraged. The key is to make yourself a schedule you’ll want to stick to. I like knowing what I have to accomplish each day and being realistic with my time rather than making an endless list of to-dos that I can’t possibly get done in one day.
Besides landing a job I’m excited about, maintaining my mental, physical, and nutritional health is equally important - this involves incorporating rituals throughout my day. My morning rituals include journaling (it was awkward at first, but super helpful now), hydrating, and walking. Some days I’ll throw in some light reading as well.
To break up my day, some exercise, an hour lunch break, and walking the dog make up my afternoon rituals. I’m by no means a physically “fit” person, haha, but I like to mix things up by either using my treadmill for a jog, rowing machine for a full-body workout, some yoga or dancing with Apple Fitness+, and bike riding or jump roping. The variety helps me from getting bored.
Evening rituals are just as important because I need to wind down to get a decent night’s rest. Having a designated stop time is necessary. Sitting down to have dinner and be present in the moment without worrying about what I have to do tomorrow helps me clear my mind. Then, intentionally setting a few minutes dedicated to planning tomorrow’s tasks allows me to check in to ensure my tasks stay aligned with my priorities. And right before bed, I like to do some more journaling before reading for 30 minutes and ending with a guided meditation so I can fall asleep.
Alright, so everything I just mentioned is what keeps me from reaching job search burnout. Next up, how I schedule my job search tasks.
Job Search Tasks
As I mentioned before, I don’t do endless scrolling on job search boards. I try to be more intentional with my time by researching companies I think I would be interested in. Thus, allowing me to be pickier about with whom I’m scheduling phone screens. My time is valuable. It’s important to determine who is worth pouring my energy into when it comes to code challenges/interviews.
Research
I find and reach out to people at companies on my list to see if they’d be open to chatting for me to get some more insider knowledge. This helps determine if I still want to invest my time and energy into trying to go through the application process with them. It’s also the start of how to find companies you’re excited about.
Informational Interviews
Scheduling specific time to thoughtfully send out a request to connect with someone is necessary. It doesn’t matter if you’re reaching out to someone through email, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. You get the best results when you’re being genuine in your attempts to connect. And whichever way they agree to chat with you - whether you’re sending few questions via message, or hopping on a call or video chat for 15 minutes - make sure you are prepared. Be ready to lead the conversation. Be curious.
Job Interviews
The chances of you landing phone screens will skyrocket once you start to reverse recruit for yourself with those informational interviews. So pick a two-hour window a couple of days a week where all of your phone screens can be scheduled. When recruiters reach out to you for your availability, you’ll know where to fit them in. Code challenges and virtual on-sites are more time-consuming. It’s best to set a full day for those so it can be your only focus for the day.
Keep Coding
When you’re not researching companies and potential connections, prepping for and doing informational and job interviews, and code challenges, keep coding. Depending on the company and role you’re applying to, this could mean going through Leetcode problems, making contributions to an open-source project, or working on a personal project.
I recommend doing whichever you’re most comfortable with and will look forward to working on consistently.
Final Tips
Having any strategy is the best strategy. You will learn along the way what works best for you, and you can iterate as you need to. This is where daily journaling and success journaling comes in handy. Daily journaling helps you gain clarity on what feels right and what doesn’t. Keeping track of successes every day helps remind you of the progress you’re making. Maybe you’re landing phone screens more often, or perhaps you got past an issue you were facing in your code.
I like using time blocking and day-theming to organize my week. If I’m going to prep for one phone screen that day, I might as well take on one or two others. The different job search tasks require different mindsets - day theming helps with that. Time blocking helps with being realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. Don’t try to tackle a week’s worth of to-dos in one day. Check out what my schedule roughly looked like when I was a full-time job seeker.
Targeting the right companies makes all the difference in your job search strategy. Check out my article Building a Companies List to Find Your Dream Job for help building your list. Also, take a look at 6 Tips For Staying Resilient In Your Job Search to ensure you keep up with your strategy.