This time of the year is always stressful for a lot of people.
As we get close to graduation, for those without a job already lined up for after graduation, life can be stressful.
Here are 5 strategies I have:
1. Set actionable goals
For me, when I speak to people, it’s I’m trying to apply to as many jobs as possible.
While I understand this mindset, I think having a more calculated mindset is better.
When you don’t have a set goal, there’s no end point. As a result, you’ll always feel stressed out — because you always could be technically doing more.
Instead, I think it’s better to say, I want to apply to x # of jobs a day.
The reason I say this is because the main thing in life is always to control what you control.
If you’re goal is I want to apply to 2 jobs a day, and you hit that goal, you can say I’m doing all that I can in terms of my effort and you can at least be happy with your effort.
I also think there’s less likelihood of you burning out this way too — if you say as many as possible, you might do 10 in a day and be absolutely burned out and unable to do any the next couple days.
It’s better to set a limit that you know is a healthy goal and can allow you to apply to jobs everyday rather than have very varied performance.
As you’ll see later, I also thinking having a set goal for applying to jobs is important because applying to jobs isn’t the only task when looking for jobs, as contradictory as that sounds.
2. Create an excel sheet with everything
The excel sheet should at minimum have company, jobs open, email of human resources contact, deadline, application requirements, Did I hear Back from the company?, If Interviewed, how far in the interview process I got, and any other notes you want to include.
I think being organized is really important and I think this is just a useful tool to track where, who and what you’ve applied to.
For example, if you’ve applied to 3 jobs in 3 different departments at a company and you applied 6 months ago, and haven’t heard back, I’m not sure you want to apply to more jobs at that company — it doesn’t seem like they get back to people in a timely manner.
Also, if you want to reconnect with a human resources person, you can quickly find their name and when you last connected with them.
3. Network with people you’re not currently connected to
I think the important skill in life is to always network and try to meet people in your industry or meet people who are where you want to get to.
So, if you want to be a Product Manager, let’s say reach out to a Product Manager at a different company once a week. At best, you have 4 conversations with 4 different product managers. At worst, you have 0 conversations.
I know it’s April when this is coming out so it’s a little harder now — but this is especially for people in school is something I would start out in September if possible.
With networking, it’s always better if the immediate goal is not to find a job.
So, when you’re reaching out to someone, saying, “Hey I’d like to get into the product management space, would you have a 20 minute conversation with me on your journey/pieces of advice?”. I would always say something to that effect and not, “Hey I’m looking for jobs in the product management space, could we connect?”
The biggest thing with networking in life is people want to be treated as people, not as a means to an end.
Try to develop an actual relationship with people. If you build a good relationship with the person, hopefully they can think of you if there’s ever a job opening they know of or you can ask for a referral when applying to a job at their company.
Again, you know your own schedule, but I would say again set a goal for the # of people you want to cold LinkedIn request/email a week and try to meet that target.
4. Network with your own personal network — friends, family, mentors
Talk to your friends, family, mentors. Explain your situation and the types of jobs you’re looking at.
Again, it’s just a reminder for them to be on the lookout and for them, if they see something, to forward a job to you.
5. Be creative
In terms of creativity, there’s a lot that you can do. But one thing, I think is something creative in this realm, is literally posting on your personal and professional social medias, “Hey I’m looking for a job in this area. If you have any ability to help me, please let me know!”
It sucks to be public about your job search, but if this type of creativity finds you a job, then you can always just delete that post later.
Also, people look for jobs, so I don’t think it’s something to be that self-conscious about.
For now, these are the 5 strategies that come to mind. If you still have more questions/something you wished I addressed, let me know!
If you’re someone who has in the past searched for a job and you felt like there was a strategy I didn’t say that you think could be helpful to pass onto others, let me know! Happy to do another article.