If you’re like most professionals, you already have more than enough to do without adding a job search to the mix. If you’re searching full-time it’s quite a challenge to get done everything that needs to be done. So how do you make the most of your search when you’re working full-time and only have part-time hours and energies leftover each week?
- If you’re determined to apply for jobs via job boards such as Indeed.com or SimplyHired.com, make sure you use their built-in search agent function to save your searches. That way, instead of scouring the boards every week you can have pre-designed search results delivered straight to your inbox at the frequency level you dictate.
- Set up Google Alerts to have blog content and news delivered to your inbox weekly. This simple technique will allow you to easily find material for LinkedIn long form posts, discussion group contributions, and status updates. It will also help to track industry happenings and news about your target companies.
- When you post status updates on LinkedIn, choose the option that allows you to post the update to Twitter at the same time (assuming you have a Twitter account, of course).
- Using Cloud-based services such as Hootsuite.com allow you to do the same thing on a broader basis. With this functionality you can schedule social media messages in advance, optimize when these posts are made, and post to more sites all at the same time. For example, you can post a status update and share the same post on your LinkedIn Groups concurrently, all within seconds.
- When it comes to LinkedIn and email messages, you’ll find yourself saying some things over and over, so it makes sense to save wisely repetitive content for reuse. LinkedIn doesn’t yet offer a way to do this, but you can copy/paste message and “signature” content from the Sent section of your inbox. You can also save routinely used content in a text or Word document and copy/paste into LinkedIn when you need it.
- Check your email client for easy message template features. Gmail, for example, allows users to save email content as templates for later reuse. If you’re sending multiple emails to recruiters, say, this feature will make quick work of what could otherwise be a burdensome task.Assuming you’re tailoring your resume each time you apply for a new role online and assuming further that you’ll be submitting your ASCII text version (as you should), you’ll find it much faster and easier to tailor the ASCII text version rather than tailor the Word version and then make a new text version for each submission.
Above all else, set realistic daily and weekly goals for your part-time job search. Stay on task and avoid distractions. Schedule short bursts of job search activity when your schedule permits and use mobile apps for the times when you’re job searching while traveling.
You may want to download this quick weekly action plan to help you get the most out of LinkedIn during your part-time career search. By making the most of your limited time, you can conduct a part-time job search that generates the interviews and job offers you want.
