Light the Fire Under Your Feet

I am honored to be part of Career Collective, a community of extremely talented resume writers and career coaches. This post is one of many responses to “heating up your job search".

I encourage you to visit other members' responses linked below. Please follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective.

  I want to thank Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, MRW, CPRW, CEIP (www.careertrend.net) and Miriam Salpeter (www.keppiecareers.com) for bringing this team of experts together. 

When do you feel you need to put the pedal to the metal and zoom into full speed? When are you going to treat your job search as a sprint? Summer is almost here and it is tempting to take some time off.  DON'T! 

Summer can be one of the best times to network and catch people at work.  In order to make the most of your time and efforts and to be able to feel productive, you'll want to think about deploying some of these strategies.

ACT WITH A SENSE OF URGENCY

Sure, we all say we want a job soon. How soon is the question.  Self impose deadlines for activities such as setting up specific networking meetings, followup after an interview or meeting, increasing your LinkedIn connections or adding more target companies to your list.  Assigning a "due date" to every task can hold you accountable. It also can provide a greater sense of ownership.  Let's face it, it is so easy to say, "well, she never called me back" or "I've been meaning to contact him, I've just been so busy".  No more excuses.  Figure out a way to meet your deadlines, just like you had to do at work.

If you are looking for a list of job search activities that need deadlines, check this out.

MANAGE YOUR TIME

Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People discusses the 4 quadrants of time management.  Read the chapter "First Things First" to learn more.  The goal is to disperse your time appropriately.  I like this model because it helps us see where you SHOULD be spending more time (quadrants 1 & II), however, we get lured into quadrants III & IV way too often.  

MOVE

This isn't a paid vacation. Keep yourself moving forward.  Do things that challenge you and feel uncomfortable.  Set your plan into action and work it. Or as the Nike motto says: "Just Do It".  Back in November when the government was adding extensions to unemployment benefits I wrote this post: Are You Determined to Get A Job or Ride Out Unemployment. 

You have what it takes to survive.  This is just a small test and chances are very good that you will get a job sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

Don't miss the expert advice below!

Turn Off The Computer, Tune Into What’s Happening, & Heat Up the Job Search, @chandlee

Heating up the Job Search-How to Stay Motivated During the Summer, @erinkennedycprw

Cool Job Seekers Heat Up Their Search in the Summer, @barbarasafani

Some assembly required, @DawnBugni

Summertime, Sluggish Economy Provide Strong Motivation for an Updated Resume, @KatCareerGal

9 Ways to Heat Up Your Job Search This Summer, @heatherhuhman

Getting Out From Under Chronic, @WorkWithIllness

Upping Your Job Search Flame; Be 'Needed, Not Needy,' @ValueIntoWords

Is Your Career Trapped in the Matrix? @WalterAkana

Put some sizzle in your job hunt - how to find a job now, @keppie_careers

Summertime - and the Job Search Ain't Easy, @KCCareerCoach

Heating up your job search. 5 ways to dismiss those winter blues, @GayleHoward

Hot Tips for a Summer Job Search, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Heat Up Your Job Search: Avoid Job Boards, @JobHuntOrg

Heating Up Your Job Searching Skills: Networking 101 and 102, @GLHoffman

Treasure Hunt—Yo-ho-ho! Heat Up Your Job Search, @resumeservice

Comments

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[Resume Writing Services]

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[Career Sherpa]

Susan:
I am glad to hear someone else is easily distracted by all the tempting content online!(especially all the great info on jobhunt.org) I am a huge procrastinator and am constantly looking for ways to overcome this. Thanks for you comment!

Jacqui:
Yeah! Another one challenged by distractions! Calendaring is another great tip! Keeping goals visible can really help keep you on track. Many thanks for bringing career collective together!

[Susan P. Joyce]

Great post for me personally, Hannah!

I know that if I don't have "real" self-imposed deadlines, I don't get anything done - or not as much as I could, at least. [There's always something interesting to read online.]

I read "7 Habits" a long time ago, thanks for the refresher on "Important/Urgent" vs. "Not Important/Not Urgent."

Thanks!