How many hours a day should you spend looking for a job?

When you’re out of work, your job is to look for new job opportunities. Therein lies success, in the seriousness and time you dedicate to achieving your goals. Looking for a job is a job. It’s that simple or, better, that complex, because in Colombia this task is not easy. However, it becomes more difficult if you do not concentrate and do not dedicate the hours of the day that this work deserves. The following tips will surely help you make your job search more effective.

How many hours a day should you spend looking for a job

Claudia Palacioan expert in employability and personal branding, says that a person who is unemployed must dedicate at least six hours a day to their job search to be effective. If you are employed and want to change jobs, you must dedicate at least one hour a day from Monday to Friday and two hours each day of the weekend. 

“Looking for work when you’re unemployed is like you have a job. You must dedicate time and effort, “complements Ximena Morgan, manager of elempleo.com and, in the same way, agrees with Palacio: “if you have a job and you are bored or want something better, you must find spaces to do your searches at home or in comfortable places for you. An hour or two a day minimum is fine. The vital thing is to know how to move and be judicious and strategic in the task, “he says.

Palacio says that the job search does not stop any day, so on Sundays and holidays you should also look for a job. Every day is good to search, however, on Mondays and Tuesdays more vacancies are usually publishedand in these days they report a high number of searches and applications.

The job search does not stop until you sign a contract. If you give up, possibly someone else will take the lead in the selection processes and, finally, manage to get a job.

Also, “there are no specific hours to find a job, you can see the vacancy that fits your profile perfectly on Tuesday night or Friday first thing in the morning, however, if you are going to send a resume to a person because they referred you the email, or because you simply want them to know your resume, it is preferable that you send iton Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday during working hoursbetween 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,” says Palacio.

To make those hours that you are going to dedicate daily effective, it is important that you establish a routine and fulfill what you have proposed. Then, according to Palacio, a search strategy must be determined, which includes portals, contacts and companies. For his part, Morgan opens the panorama toalso participate in social networks.

When talking about specific portals, it is advisable to identify the keywords, salaries, positions, sector to which you want to apply and make filters toget the ideal job.

“As far as contacts are concerned, you haveto know that you should call each of the people you know and are located at work, tell them about your situation, about what you want, what you are looking for and update them regarding your resume. Finally, make a list of the companies in which you want to work and in addition to sending your resume through internal portals, send your resume to the person who can probably be your boss, “concludes Palacio.

Best methodology to look for work

The first thing, according to Claudia Palacio, an expert in employability and personal branding, is to really understand how the market works and adapt the professional profile to the demands before starting the job search. “Train yourself in issues related to employability, creating a better resume and training for successful interviews. Also maintain a leading attitude, it is not enough just to send your resume to different vacancies, it is necessary that you remain proactive and show motivation to continue belonging to the world of work, accepting new positions and different challenges. “