Looking for a job? Keep a file of everything you do

If you are looking for work, you must always know what to do and what not to do. A file, a spreadsheet on which to mark you everything can be the solution, as long as it is always up to date. Looking for a job, you know, by now, has also become a real job. With skills to sharpen, fortune to chase and intuition to use when needed. One of the skills to keep more trained is definitely the memory, on which however one cannot count fully.

Let’s see how …

How to organize yourself when you are looking for a job

A solution as fast as it is simple is a spreadsheet, a table (for example an Excel sheet) on which to report everything that is done, what is not done, and what has not yet been done but is going to be done. Think that figure calling twice the same company, or missing an appointment with another just because you did not have want to sign the appointment somewhere.

A complete and updated file

A complete and updated file is what we need. We are talking about something more than an agenda, electronic or not, we are talking about something that is very dense with information, in a small space. A file that can be easily consulted, in two or three clicks it is necessary to arrive at the necessary information. “Did I make that phone call?” And, even before “I took note of the number?” Or “Did I write to the contact person? Yup? OK, when did I do it? What did I write to him? He replied and if so what? Haven’t written yet? Why? Is there a reason or did I forget?” These and a thousand other questions to which it is possible to answer practically in real time by consulting your data file, extremely precious to keep up to date and possibly saved in multiple devices. Because if you lose a copy for some reason there is always another, or two more.

What data must contain your file?

But what exactly is the data that your very personal file must contain? First of all the position you are applying for and the name of the company. Imagine that you are a candidate, maybe you have studied your application perfectly but have sent out three or four applications and you can’t remember exactly where you are and for what. Bad figure right? Yes, easily avoidable though, just take note in your personal file of what you’ve done and consult it every time, before taking any action to look for a job.

It is also useful to use multimedia tools by adding a link to both the job application and the job description (the one you read before applying), without having to waste time scrolling back tens of pages of various job sites, to search the right one. Did you put the link in your file? Perfect, it’s already there, in a click. What a convenience eh …

Other important data to keep absolutely at hand in your file as a spreadsheet model are: what information has been sent and which has not, in order to understand even if that search process may or may not have a positive outcome. The way we are candidates (in person, by telephone, via Skype, by email and so on). If it exists, who is or who the referents are, that is to say with those who have spoken, so as not to have to ask 1000 people who for the most part know nothing about your application, because it is not their job. Having the attendant’s address or phone number available, without abusing this tool, is an advantage that can also become decisive in the selection process.

Work in progress

You can also dedicate a column of your spreadsheet to progress, made or not in reference to your application. I sent an email, was I replied? And if so what? What initiative should I take now? The interview was via Skype or in person? Scoring the salient points can be a wise thing, it is not at all said that those two or three sentences that for you, so to speak, passed away in a moment, were not very important for your interlocutor.

One last thing to add with which to bind everything is definitely the type of contact: was it an email, or was there a phone call? Was it an interview via Skype or in person and what interview number was it? The first, the second, the third?

It is easy to understand how having immediate access to all these interconnected information brings an inexorable advantage, even if it is true that the continuous construction of the file requires a greater commitment in terms of time and a consistency that is not really common. But would you really play this increased job with a job?