Looking to Streamline Your Job Search? Consider These 10 Job Search Hacks.

This story originally appeared on Glassdoor

The job search wouldn’t be so daunting if it you didn’t have to spend so many hours, countless late nights, and weeks on end searching for jobs and sending in applications. It’s a long, exhausting process – but we’re here to help make it easier for you so that you work smarter, not harder!

Looking to streamline your job search? Consider the following job search hacks that every prospective employee should try during the job hunt.

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If you don’t set a schedule for yourself, you’re never going to get anywhere. Get up early, head to a café or co-working space (just anywhere that’s not your apartment), and work on your job applications as if it was your job to do so. Not only will this prepare you for adjusting to a job schedule later, but the more serious your take your job search, the easier it’s going to be.

Don’t waste your time and apply to a company or job that isn’t going to allow you to pay the bills. Want to weed out those jobs? Simply use the Glassdoor Know Your Worth tool to calculate your worth, and find jobs that match your salary.

If you’re already doing step one, considering changing it up a bit and breaking up your work time into 20-minute time blocks. This will help you be more productive in the long run, because staring at your screen for six hours working on the same material will drive you crazy! Instead, work on a job application for 20 minutes, then go for a walk or move to different location. Then, work on a job application for another 20 minutes.

 

Make a list of the top ten companies you want to work for, and read online reviews or articles about these companies. Based on the reviews, make a list of the top five companies you definitely want to work for after reading more about the company. Then, look for jobs at those companies, and apply to each one!

Take the time to make your resume perfect. Double check for typos and have a friend or resume expert look it over. Once it’s perfect, take 30-seconds and upload it to Glassdoor. Seriously, it’s that easy -- and now when you browse the site, you can easily apply to a job.

Related: Here's How to Negotiate Flexible Work Hours

Plan a rest day in the middle of your week during your job search, and do something completely different -- like going for a hike. Something as simple as getting out in nature for a little bit can help relieve the stress and anxiety you are likely experiencing during the job hunt. It’s important to not spend an entire week just applying to jobs -- you always have to take some time for mindfulness, or else you’ll end up tiring yourself out, which, in turn, will lead to lackluster job applications.

Once you start to narrow in on some companies you really, really, want to work for, consider looking up employees who work there. You can put a call to action out on your social media pages to see if any friends know someone at the company who could give you an introduction. Social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can also help you find connections you may not know you have. If you can get the contact information for an employee who works at the company you want to apply to, that can help you get a foot in the door.

Stuck on those cover letters? Grab a pen and paper, and read through the job application closely. Write down all the keywords that stand out or that you see multiple times. This will help you focus your cover letter or resume with the same keywords -- which will help make your application stand out!

Did you know that on Glassdoor you can set your account settings to receive alerts when a job you might be interested in gets posted or when a company you are following posts a job? Setting up alerts will help make sure you never miss an opportunity that you might be interested in -- you never know what could happen!

Related: 7 Skills to Leave Off Your Resume

One of the easiest and quickest ways to make the job search process easier is to put job listings at the front of your mind. By following recruiters, job sites or your favorite companies on all social channels, you’ll see their posts in all of your social news feeds -- that way you never miss a listing! Who knows, maybe the next time you are scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, you’ll see a hiring post that you might have missed otherwise!

By Isabel Thottam