24 Useful Hours in Every Day

Hello everyone! My name is Angie and I'm the Graduate Assistant Career Advisor at Career Services. Like many of you, this is my last semester of graduate school and I am looking for a full-time job. I feel lucky to work in an environment where I am surrounded by supportive people who have given me great job search advice but unfortunately, they can't find the jobs or apply for them for me. Finding time to balance two part-time jobs, an intense course load, a leadership role in a graduate student organization and job hunting has been a struggle. I also don't intend to stay in the Midwest so spending time with friends and family before I leave is very important to me. And I'm training for a marathon in May.

It would be nice if I could say "super woman" was my career goal but I don't think that will fly with prospective employers. I've heard many students say that they are in the same position and just don't know when they will have enough time for the job search.

Yes, it's tough to focus on the job search with so many things going on during your last semester but, for me, finding a job is my number 1 priority. One of the best pieces of advice I got was to set aside some time each week to focus on the job search. Over winter break I set aside a lot of time to get my job search materials together and have my wonderful co-workers review them. Now every Wednesday and Thursday I have time set aside to search job postings and HR websites at target employers. This helps me focus on my coursework that is due earlier in the week and it allows some more free time on the weekends.

Breaking up the various steps of the job search and setting deadlines for yourself is a great way to make sure you're getting things done in an efficient manner while allowing times for other important things. Sometimes it can take up to an hour or two to fill out and review one on-line application. When networking or creating job connections, you may have to deal with someone else's schedule. It's important to maintain balance in your life but also focus on your priorities. If the job search is one of them, do you what you need to do to stay organized and stay focused on your career goal. I'm confident that the time spent on this will be worth it in the near future.