Take 10 (Minutes, that Is) to Conduct an Effective Job Search—or to Build Your Career The trick is in the setup. By organizing a few key tasks for yourself (yes, this process will probably require a rare few hours, rather than minutes), you can create a series of mini projects that can be pursued at a moment’s notice. If you store the projects on your phone or in the cloud, you’ll be able to access them no matter where you are. Following are four steps to help you make use of this great organizing strategy.
and formatted, you can print it and review it carefully for accuracy and flow. Now for that list of projects related to job search. In addition to making your CV, you can: • Create a LinkedIn profile • Write a template cover letter • Update your AAN job seeker profile
Step 1—Set up your projects
• Build a list of places you’d like to work
You’ll need two things for this step—a device, such as your phone or laptop, and a set of job searchrelated projects (more on that in a minute). Once you have decided which projects you want to tackle, all that’s left is to break the project itself into small bits and set them up for easy access on your device. Here’s an example. Suppose you need to finish your CV so you can begin sending it out for positions you’d like. If you’re planning to use your laptop, you might start a word processing file on the desktop. Then you could download a template or create sections on the CV such as Post Graduate Training and Work Experience; now you can begin dropping in information in the appropriate section whenever you have a few minutes to spare. At the end of a week or so, you’re likely to have quite a bit of data in the file; now you can start using your time to organize each section. When that step is done, you can look at the document as a whole and make choices about the format. Finally, when the CV is completely written
• Bookmark important sites (including the AAN Neurology Career Center) • Complete applications or other outreach to employers • Send emails to recruiters or your mentor • Network by sending a note to a colleague or making a LinkedIn connection • Download or bookmark applications, articles or other tools you want to review later
Step 2—Implement the strategy The beauty of this process is that you can come back to it any time, day or night. As long as you keep at it, you’ll make progress. That said, you might feel more peace of mind if you can build a routine, such as arriving 20 minutes ahead of each shift so you can work on one of your projects. That way you’ll know
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