4 Reasons to Keep a Daily Job Search Journal

You might think that you don't have time to keep a daily journal when you are busy looking for a job, but thinking that way is a big mistake. Recording your daily activities can help you keep track of your job search. You can then modify your job seeking activities to improve your chance of success.

The top reason to keep a daily job search journal is to track your job applications. When you are applying for multiple jobs every week, it can be difficult to remember every application you have submitted. Keeping a job search journal allows you to quickly check which companies you are waiting on to get back to you. If you don't receive a response, you need to follow up to find out the status of your application. Keeping a daily journal makes it easy for you to take a proactive approach to your job search.

Keeping a journal also allows you to keep track of how much your job search is costing. Some expenses associated with your job search are tax deductible, but you have to know exactly how much you have spent in order to claim it. Thankfully, when you keep a daily job search journal, it's easy to see how much you have spent.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of keeping a journal, both in your job search and in your regular life, is that it can help you identify activities that result in positive outcomes and ones that turn out to be less successful. Include information about the types of jobs you have applied for and the outcome that resulted to see where you are getting the best results. For example, if you're called in for interviews when you apply for jobs in the retail sector but hear nothing when you apply for administration jobs, then this could indicate that your skills are more suited to working in retail. Alternatively, it could be that your resume overemphasizes your retail experience at the expense of your administration experience. Make sure you tailor your resume to every job that you apply for. Keeping a job search journal could help you recognize whether or not you are doing this properly.

A job search journal could also help keep your career goals on track. When you have been looking for jobs for a while, it's easy to lose track of your goals and start applying for any job out of desperation. A job search journal can reveal when you are veering off course, allowing you make changes and take back control of your career.

With so many good reasons to keep a job search journal, there is no excuse for not doing it. You can track your activities on paper or by using a mobile app. It's important to write in your journal every day so you have a consistent record of your job seeking activities.

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