2020 Job Seekers Playbook: Step 2, Organizing Your Search

Let’s face it – looking for a job is a full-time job in itself. Tailoring resumes, writing cover letters, scheduling interviews, and sending thank you notes are all just pieces of the puzzle. In Day 2 of The 2020 Job Seeker’s Playbook, Contemporary Staffing pulled together tips and tricks for staying organized in your job search. 

Start with a Master Spreadsheet 

With so many moving parts, it can be easy to become disorganized and make embarrassing mistakes like sending a cover letter with the wrong company name or worse, missing an interview.

“Creating a spreadsheet from the get-go can help keep your head straight throughout your job hunt. Track each job application with columns like the company, job title, date of application, and a status update. As you hear back from companies, be sure to note next steps and any important deadlines,” says Alyssa Mastrangelo, Recruiting Director.

Pro Tip: If you don’t feel comfortable in Excel, there are tons of free application tracking templates and apps to be found online!  

Clearly Label Your Files 

To avoid a cluttered desktop and a cluttered brain, do yourself a favor and come up with a system to name and organize all your files. For example, if you tailor a resume and write a cover letter for Company XYZ, save and store those files together. Title them “Company XYZ Cover Letter Date” and “Company XYZ Resume Date.” This way, you know exactly what Company XYZ has received and when they would like to interview you, you can use those documents as a reference. This also goes a long way in avoiding the embarrassing mistake mentioned earlier! 

The Bottom Line  

Some job hunts require hundreds of applications. The best way to stay motivated throughout the process is to stay organized. These are small but crucial steps in keeping your mind clear to bring your best self to your job search. Stay tuned for Day 3!  

About Contemporary Staffing Solutions

Contemporary Staffing Solutions (CSS) is a company that exudes unwavering results with urgency, honesty, and integrity. CSS has been a leading provider of contract, temporary, temporary-hire & direct hire solutions. We began as a staffing agency and evolved to a national provider of workforce management solutions with a niche recruitment focus in Accounting & Finance, Call Center & Office, Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Information Technology, Salesforce. We respect our clients and candidates equally while keeping the client’s best interest in mind. Everyone at CSS operates with pro-active pipelines and with the highest business ethics, a winning spirit in our approach, a team-oriented workflow, with real cross-training. The CSS team coaches you with current business intelligence so that we can manage your expectations. It’s what makes CSS great and, most importantly, FUN to work with!