How Long Will that Job Search Take?

Just how long will it take to find a new job?

Good question, Neighbor. The answer to this question is really important in building your budget for this period of unemployment.

The rule of thumb has been that it will take about one month for every $10,000 you earned. So if you earned $50,000, it would take about five months.

Truth is, no one knows who came up with that formula or if it is true. I've worked with clients who earned $200,000 and landed in three months with several offers in hand (yes, during this recession) and I know people who earned $35,000 who haven't found a job in over 18 months. 

What are the factors that really decrease job search time?

1. Your Attitude. Whether you're networking or interviewing, a genuinely positive attitude is your #1 Asset. People are strongly attracted to charismatic, resilient, energetic people.

When you demonstrate these traits, people will be more likely to recommend you to employers and business contacts. If your attitude signals anger or sadness, people will hesitate introduce you and you may miss opportunities. I wish I could tell you that positive attitudes are on sale in downtown Lake Zurich.

You have to bath your brain in positive thoughts so often that positivity becomes your natural way of thinking. If you find anger or sadness affects the progress of your search, please seek help.

2. The Amount of Time You Invest. You can't be casual about job search if you want to land quickly. Schedule an eight-hour day, work on your search five days a week, and schedule your appointments and tasks daily.

Your job search calendar should be even fuller than your work calendar was! As you schedule your day, plan to do work on the computer after business hours and keep your day open for meetings and phone calls. Finally, find a partner who will hold you accountable to your rigorous schedule.

3. How You Invest Your Time. In my experience, too many people spend too much time on the computer in an effort to find a job. If less than 10% of people find a job applying to online postings, why would you spend most of your time on job posting sites?

Schedule your day so that you talking with people (i.e., networking) at least 70% of the time and you will certainly land faster. Networking is the tried and true, best way to land a job faster.

So how long will your job search take? As you see, it's up to you, isn't it? Good luck.

If you've got a question for me to answer post it on the Lake Zurich Patch website or send them to me at AskCoachChristy@gmail.com. Of course, you'll have to subscribe, but subscriptions are free.

See you next week,

Christy, your neighbor and career coach