5 ways to create an effective system for your job search

Two and a half years ago I was utterly unemployed. After taking time to recharge, sell naturally-dyed baby clothes on Etsy (I did not personally know any babies at the time), and do a few random gigs for friends’ companies, reality set in. I needed a job.

My first instinct was to send my resume out en masse using online job listing platforms. But in job searching — like many things — you get out what you put in. If I was going to find the right fit, I had to make it personal and I had to develop a system.

Enter Streak. I used it at a previous job for email tracking and remembered that they had a pipeline feature to track processes. It took me less than 5 minutes to set up in Gmail and — music to my unemployed ears — it was free.

After developing a system to manage applications and contacts, I began to build momentum and find a rhythm in my job search — ultimately leading me to explore several great opportunities and land a role… at Streak. While not everyone is hoping to literally get a job from Streak, we’re here to help you manage the process so you can focus on finding the right fit.

Throughout my job search, these 5 things helped me manage my process and land a great job.

1. Know what you want

Some people have a crystal-clear picture of their dream job, or at least have a pretty good sense of what their career path should look like. Some people… not so much.

It’s ok if you don’t have a blueprint of your dream job, but you should know your core values. There’s no right answer here, but landing on a few core values will help you focus your search, evaluate opportunities, and eventually find the right fit. For me, this meant finding a job that had:

1. Clear opportunities to learn and develop new skills
2. A product or service that I found compelling and could really stand behind
3. Culture and work-life balance
4. Interesting and diverse co-workers
5. Salary and benefits that supported my needs and lifestyle

Your values could relate to your commute, childcare options, team structure, diversity and inclusion, or anything else that’s important to you.

Talk to friends and family about what made for positive or negative experiences in their jobs and think about your own experiences. If you could change any aspects of your past jobs, what would they be? How can you identify those values in your next job?

2. Treat it like a job: Use a pipeline

Individual companies may have slightly different hiring steps, but each industry generally follows the same process.

When you’re researching and interviewing with several jobs at once, a pipeline helps you organize details so you can engage with multiple opportunities without getting confused or overwhelmed.

Streak has customizable pipeline templates specifically for job searches, so you can start with the important details and adjust the steps in your process or the data that you want to track.

The job search pipeline is structured a bit like a sales funnel — starting with an “Interested” stage to dump any opportunities that look remotely interesting. These are your leads.

As you research and apply for jobs, fill out information in the pipeline columns that will help you evaluate the opportunity and prepare for an interview. Track information about where the job is located, what the position is, the salary, how you learned about it, and more.

The goal is to get several opportunities into the “Offer Received” stage around the same time, so you can decide between competing offers. This, of course, takes some planning — so make sure to define your process and get comfortable with your pipeline!

3. Use your connections and learn as much as you can

A connection or referral can open doors and even be a deciding factor in a hiring process. Although a referral might not always present itself (or be appropriate), making connections is key.

One of the most important parts of my job search was identifying connections. I added stages for “Emailed Connection” and “Made Connection” to my pipeline, and I moved every single opportunity through those stages before applying to the position. Every. Single. One. Even if I didn’t personally know somebody there. It’s awkward at first, but it’s in every company’s best interest to find great talent. When asked the right way, most people are willing to help.

A friend or colleague is an obvious option, but you can also reach out to hiring managers or people in relevant positions and ask to learn more.

For example, I didn’t know anybody at Streak when I applied, but I reached out to a Streaker (not that kind) on LinkedIn and was able to set up a quick phone call to learn more and be connected with the hiring manager.

If you’re reaching out to a stranger, remember:

• Be polite and don’t necessarily expect anything from them. They’re busy.
• Make a personal connection (i.e. “I’m a Streak user!”)
• Make a specific ask and be clear about what you want (i.e. learn more about a certain position)
• Be ready to pay it forward and help out others when you get the job!

Be sure to add their contact and emails to your pipeline to track conversations and follow up.

4. Stay organized

Once you get into the groove, you may end up with several balls in the air. This is great! But between cover letters, resumes, phone conversations, contacts, and job specifics… there’s a lot going on.

Staying organized keeps things moving along and helps you put your best foot forward.

Streak boxes allow you to add all relevant emails, dates of interviews and deadlines, notes from calls and meetings, resume and CV files, and more. Each box becomes a workspace to focus in on a particular opportunity as you prepare for interviews and applications.

Have to complete a take home project or prepare a presentation? Add it to the box!

5. Stay on top of follow up and communication

Applying to jobs can be a lot of “hurry up and wait”. Keep the process moving forward by staying on top of communication and follow up. Timely follow-up and responses also show potential employers that you’re a responsible and effective communicator.

Create saved views in Streak to filter your pipelines and find opportunities that need attention — like opportunities that haven’t had a recent email conversation or need a reply. You can do this by creating a saved view based on magic columns, like the Date of Last Email column, seen above, or the Last Email From column.

Once you’ve created a useful saved view to filter your boxes, show the results front and center in your inbox to help prioritize your next move.

You got this!

Job searching can be overwhelming. One of the biggest favors I did for myself was to move my handwritten notes from an increasingly disorganized pad of paper to a pipeline. The peace of mind that I gained helped me feel more calm and collected as I approached companies and went through interviews.

Developing an effective system for your job search means you can manage a lot of communication at once and build momentum to find a great fit and get to a “yes”.

Learn more about getting started with pipelines in Streak University, our getting started video series, and explore the free version of Streak for your job search today!