Daily Action Plan

It is imperative to set daily action plans and weekly goals. Stick to your action plan so as to keep your job search progressing and strive for lofty weekly goals to keep yourself motivated. A sample Daily Action Plan could resemble:

• Call 5 networking contacts to arrange meetings
• Write thank you letters from yesterday’s meetings
• Write 5 follow-up emails with contacts I have not spoken to in 2 weeks
• Research 3 companies of interest
• Research job opportunities with 5 target companies
• Apply to one job
• Follow-up with 5 job applications from last week
• Practice interviewing questions
• Exercise for 1 hour

By staying on task and striving for goals, your search will be more directed and shorter than if you plod along unorganized. The final entry is an important one: daily exercise will increase your energy level, boost your self-image, and can help older job seekers appear younger. No employer wants to hire a tired, worn out looking employee.

In conjunction with exercise, it is a good idea to get out of the house and be active. Join a professional association, get on a school, church, alumni club, or neighborhood board, or volunteer at your favorite nonprofit. Not only does this help you answer the dreaded interview question, “What have you been doing with your time away from work?”, these activities can open many doors through the contacts you will meet. Just be careful to avoid overloading yourself or joining activities that take your time and efforts away from the job search.