I remember in college, I visited my girlfriend’s dorm room and saw her very neat and organized desk. Each subject had its own binder. Work was placed in sections with colorful folders. There was a wall calendar with assignment deadlines written in different colored ink (each color signified a different subject). Needless to say, I was impressed and I told her so.
She just waved her hand at me . . . “Don’t be (impressed)†she told me, “I’m lazy and I don’t like working hard. This took me a weekend to do. Now, I have time to over-sleep, veg out, do what I want. Don’t you know, being organized allows me be lazy?â€
So my advice to you: Why work so hard? Be lazy and get organized.
It’s hard enough looking for a telecommuting job, don’t make this job — yes, looking for a job is a JOB — harder than it needs to be.
To organize my job search I created a simple system of 4 folders:
Folder 1: WILL SUBMIT – These are all the jobs I have found and intend to submit my resume. I print out the jobs and place them in order of the one I want the most, to the one I want the least.
Folder 2: APPLIED – This is where I put the information on all the jobs I’ve submitted to. I always printed out the job description, a copy of my e-mail application and attached these together. I put the time and ate I submitted mny application and then I file them in order by date of submission. (Filing them in alphabetical order [by company name] works even better.)
Now when someone calls or e-mails me about a possible interview, I can quickly find the job description, what I wrote on the cover letter to impress them and sound half-way intelligent and knowledgable when I answer the call.
Folder 3: DENIALS – (yeah, the label is negative but that’s what it is right?) These are the applications that did not successfully become a job.
Why keep these? Because these “denials†are employers that are open to the concept of remote employers (telecommuters). You want to keep a list of these individuals and you want to contact them periodically in case they have additional opportunites (more on this in another article later.)
Folder 4: COSTS – Get some lined paper and keep careful notes on the costs for this jobs hunt. Do you know that if you itemized deductions on your taxes that Job Hunting Costs are deductible?
So, keep careful notes on how many hours you used interent services for job hunting. Don’t forget the telephone calls you make to potential employers. The cost of supplies are also deductible. Mileage on your care because of interviews, postal box and other meetings should be recorded as well. ANY costs involving your job hunt should be carefully noted every day.
THE KEY:
Now the key to successfully executing this system, is to “visit†your folders every day. Give yourself 15 minutes each day to:
1. Organize the jobs that you found from “most want†to “least want†in your SUBMIT folder.
2. Place the job descriptions that you applied to in date or alphabetical order in your APPLIED folder.
3. When you find out you have been denied the job, place those job descriptions that are in the APPLIED folder into your DENIAL folder.
4. List the costs you incurred during your job search today.
There, you are organized. Now you can take a nap.
Happy Hunting!