Today was more of the same, but different. because I started getting a handle on my process.
Last night I stayed up late designing a spreadsheet to help guide my searching. This spreadsheet has three sections. The first one is for companies that you want to search (Boeing, Microsoft etc.). The second section is to hold job aggregators that you want to visit (like linked In, Simply hired, or Craig’s list). The third section is just to hold any special search terms that a person is trying to use on all sites. This allows you to quickly copy and paste this into search boxes.
To use the spreadsheet, you put in the name of the companies/ aggregators, links to their job sites, and then any special instructions for each one if needed . There is a cell to enter the current time using the keystrokes ctrl shift: and another cell for the ending time that uses the same keystrokes. Then the amount of time is calculated for how much time was spent on the site. There is another cell to add in the results. So far I’m working with the following format j4/r2/a1 which would mean four jobs came up, I read two jobs and applied for one. There is also a column to put in special instructions for the site.
I have found that I’m coming up with a lot of accounts and passwords. I’m trying to use the same account and password on everything, but they have different rules so you can’t. To help me remember, I have added comments to the company name cell. In this comment I put the account name and password, then I just have to mouse over the name to get the account information.
I built this spreadsheet because I wanted to get a sense of few things. Am I getting to all the sites I want to on a regular basis. What is the return on investment for the sites that I am visiting? How much of my time is spent searching? And how much is wasted on other activities? Do I really need to go to companies if the aggregators are finding the same jobs (thought I could comment on this)?
The first tab in the workbook is called template and the daily process is to copy the template and then rename it to the current date. You add or subtract information from the template so that it always has the most current search information. As you get ready to visit a site add the current time in the start column (ctrl shift : ) and then click on the URL. Upon return enter the ending time. The sheet automatically figures elapsed time.
Today using this gave me a much better appreciation for how much time I am spending on what. I could see what I was getting done and how I was losing time during the day. This awareness will allow me to become more focused on the highest valued time spent job searching. At least that is my theory.
If you would like to see if the spreadsheet will work for you check out this link: Job Search Sheets. You can look at it here or download it and play with. If you make improvements, which I hope you do, can you shoot me a copy? I will then make the new version available.
Today, I found two jobs to apply for. The first was at Boeing and the second was at Expedia travel. I later had second thoughts on the Expedia job, feeling I was under qualified for the job. I will take another look at this position in the morning.
I haven’t heard anything back from any of my other applications including the job I interviewed with. I have an information interview coming up on Thursday, due to the efforts of a friend of mine getting me an introduction. I also will be having another information interview next week with a friend of mine because the company she works for is expanding. These are both hopeful activities.
Tomorrow: boning up for my interview on Thursday, job searching – find two positions to apply for.
inSite Group 53
Jobs applied for: 23
Rejections: 7
Job Posting withdrawn: 1
Interviews: 1
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