Finding a Job Is a full-time job

Be the Difference. Remain Curious. Shine.

Prepare for a marathon instead of a sprint

Let's be practical. How does finding a new job work? You do not want "just a job", you want the right one, a meaningful role. What do you need in your job to be satisfied with your professional life? 

Finding a new job is much more than updating a CV, sending it out, and acing an interview.  The process starts with finding out more about yourself. That includes your preferences, skills, values, and the like. It ends with being successful in your new job. 

There is no magic here, please forget about “this single action will give me my next job”. You are much better off if you look at it as a marathon. When you understand your job search more as a long-term situation, you are already ahead of others in the race. You are balancing your energy and taking the right actions to get results faster. It takes time, effort, patience, and perseverance.

The better you prepare for it, the faster you will succeed. With good preparation, you won’t get ill, depressed, or demotivated in the process. Plus, having a mentor with a plan at your side will make it faster and easier for you.

Two different starting points

If you are without work, you very likely are looking for a job right now. But even people with a job are job-hunting. On average, 25% of employees are job hunting [more here]. No wonder, considering that according to a recent Gallup poll, only 32% of workers in America are highly involved in their job. Which means they are enthusiastic about it, and are committed to their work and workplace. Over 50% self-reported that they're "just showing up" and 17% describe themselves as "actively disengaged." What is worse: not having a job or having the wrong one?

If you have a job or not, the steps to go through in your search project are the same. But being unemployed comes with extra challenges:

Searching for a job is a project

It is not without reason that people who are job-hunting talk about it as their “search project”. The time between starting your search until you have secured a new job has the characteristics of a project. 

As with other projects, once you have finished it, you have learned a lot. Some people say that being without work for a while was beneficial for them. Despite the pressure to find a job, it has created an opportunity to reflect about what is most important. They used that new insight to align the next career steps.

How long will it take to find a new job?

If you are without a job, you best make your job search your full-time job. The more time you invest, the faster it goes and the better the quality of your material and preparation will be. The average job seeker spends about six to seven months looking for a new job. This will often involve many applications. For each, you need to adapt your resume and cover letter. If you could show that you have what it takes and can be trusted, you will need to go through one or more interviews with several companies.

There are many factors that have an impact on how long your project will take. Some of those you can influence, others you have to accept and live with (see further down). It also depends on the number of applications you submit.

About 80% of candidates receive feedback from their application within two weeks [more here]. Unfortunately, not hearing back (“ghosting”) becomes more and more a questionable reality [more here] . The better your resume and cover letter, the higher your chances for a response,  hopefully an invitation for an interview.

You can, on average, expect the interview process for each company to take somewhat between 23 and 38 days [more here]. Some companies work faster, while others take more time. 

Once you have completed all the interviews, expect one or two weeks before you receive a job offer. The higher the salary and the position, the longer you should be prepared to wait. Security hurdles like background checks or clearances impact the timeline too if they are needed.

While you are going through the process for one position, apply for others as well. But be vigilant, having too many balls in the air at the same time can quickly become confusing. Good project management will help to stay on top. Working with a career mentor will get you results faster. 

Factors that impact the duration of a job search project

There are many factors that impact the timeline of your job search, such as:

Several of these factors are beyond your control, like the state of the economy. Others you can influence. You can shorten your job-search project, especially if you get help. 

Adding my SUPERPOWER into the mix

You can read many books about job-hunting and maybe work with a career coach or mentor. What I will do, I'll add my superpower into the mix: I have many years of experiences of hands-on project management. From identifying a problem to the implementation of a solution. There are tremendous benefits in applying project management to your search project:

Should you want to work with a career mentor, check out what they have in store for you along those lines.

Let me mentor and guide you through this process. Want to discuss this further, get in touch.

Made with love and coffee in Brussels

Creé avec de l´amour et du café à Bruxelles

Mit Liebe und Kaffee in Brüssel entstanden