The Job Searching Process in Six Steps

The job search process takes a long time. Too long, if you ask me.

On average, from the moment you start searching and turning in applications, to the time you actually gain employment, the job search process takes around six weeks. That’s if you search and apply to jobs every day – longer if you take breaks in the process.

According to another group of researchers, it can take around one month per every $10,000 per year you hope to earn. In other words, if you hope to be pulling in $70,000 per year, expect your job search and application submission process to last for a good seven months. Ugh.

At that rate, even a modest salary of $25,000 per year would take you a good two and a half months out of your life to obtain. That’s absolutely ludicrous!

And, oh, the whole job searching process…

Let’s face it: those months you spend searching are NOT going to be fun.

Part One: Needing a Job

First, there’s the stress that comes with suddenly needing a job. Maybe you were laid off. Maybe you quit. Maybe this is your first job hunt ever. No matter what your circumstances, the fact of the matter remains the same: you need to earn a living and you need to earn it fast.

Being without a job is one of the most stressful things in a modern human’s existence.

They say “money can’t buy happiness,” but I beg to disagree.

Back in 1943, Abraham Maslow created the “Hierarchy of Needs.” Basically, it was a small pyramid illustrating what every human being needs in order to achieve self-actualization – ultimate happiness. At the bottom of the pyramid, as the foundation to build upon everything else, was what I call “the basics”: Food, water, shelter, etc.

That first building block of the pyramid? It takes money in order to create it. You’re not going to get a free meal or free lodgings in this day and age. You need a job in order to take care of your basic needs – the needs everything else, including your ultimate happiness, builds upon. Therefore, in a very literal sense, money can buy happiness.

So not only do your basic survival needs depend on you gaining employment, but your mental and emotional well-being depend on it as well. Talk about a lot of pressure right out of the gate!

Part Two: The Job Search

Where do you even begin with this one?

Well, first, you need to decide which career path you’d like to take. There’s no use in applying for jobs if you don’t have a goal in mind for what you’re applying for.

After you’ve got that in mind, it’s time to start signing up for job boards; contacting friends, family, and former co-workers; hitting up LinkedIn connections you forgot you had; and basically scrambling to connect with everyone and anyone who might help you.

And the job search results on those job boards and from those connections? Woo boy.

Before I got my job here at 133T as the Head Writer and Head Editor, I would type “editor” into the job search bars and I’d come back with just a few prospects, and a whole lotta nonsense. I honestly got “health communications officer” back a few times when I searched for “editor.” That has NOTHING to do with the job I was looking to apply for!

This is not uncommon. Many job search engines don’t have enough relevant jobs to kick back to you, so they just start throwing in random offers to make it look like they’ve got a wide selection. But you know what that really is? A waste of your time.

Not only do you have to wade through the actual prospective employment opportunities, but you’ll also have to wade through a bunch of garbage as well. Meanwhile, the clock continues to tick ever onward…

Part Three: The Application Process

Let’s say you finally find some jobs worth applying to.

Great!

But now you have to fill out a lengthy application form with a bunch of fill-in-the-blank slots that go on seemingly forever. And, of course, you’ll have to attach your resume. (Did I mention that you’ll have to prepare a fresh resume…?).

Oh, and then comes my favorite part (*sarcasm*): a second page of the application where you fill in all the information from the resume you already attached in part one. Arrrrgh!!

Why do companies do this? I honestly would like to know! Even as someone who writes about the job application process, that strange bit of extra busy work is still a mystery to me – and an endless source of aggravation.

And, of course, you feel the need to apply to said job IMMEDIATELY because, if you don’t, it will be snapped up by some other applicant! There’s nothing quite like extra steps to trip you up when you’re already in a hurry, you know what I mean? It’s just awful.

But then comes the worst part…

Part Four: The Waiting

Now that you’ve actually applied for a job, you have to wait around, hoping and praying that you’ll get a call back.

Generally, calls back take about two weeks, if they ever come at all. So what do you do in the meantime?

Steps one through three, of course! Over and over and over and over again.

Meanwhile, your friends and family wonder if you’ve fallen off the face of the earth, and your dog has given up hope of ever being walked again.

Job hunting takes a MASSIVE toll on your social life. It consumes every aspect of what you do. There isn’t a moment that goes by that you’re not actively searching or thinking about searching for employment. It’s draining – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

When Tom Petty (rest in peace) sang that “the waiting is the hardest part,” he wasn’t kidding.

Part Five: Potential Progress

Let’s say you finally do get a call back and nab an interview… Now you have a whole new set of stressors to worry about.

You have to psyche yourself up for speaking to the person who could potentially be your new boss. And, of course, you have to choose what to wear.

Next, you have to actually get to the interview on time and not mess it up. (Feel free to check out our tips on how to ace your next interview!).

Then, it’s back to waiting. Maybe you’ll get a second interview. Maybe you’ll get the job. Maybe you’ll never hear from them again. It’s hard to say – and even harder to live through.

Part Six: The Eternal Return

There’s a concept that the universe and everyone living in it are doomed to repeat the same cycle of events indefinitely until the end of time.

That’s how the job searching process often feels.

If you got the job after that call back: good on you! If you didn’t…well…then you’re doomed to repeat the steps in this process again and again until you do.

The job hunting process as we currently know it is a time-sucking MONSTER that keeps us from the things we value most. Friends, family, and pets get thrown to the wayside, all in the name of finding a job.

The endless search is a huge drain. It’s downright depressing.

There HAS to Be a Better Way!

Guess what.

There is.

It’s called 133T.

133T takes away the headaches and endless suffering associated with the average job search and throws it out the window.

With 133T, you give us your resume, tell us what type of jobs you’d like to apply for, and then move on to live your life. WE do the work while YOU get to focus on the things that matter to you most.

If you’re tired of the usual job searching process, then it’s time to give 133T a chance. Sign up for the BETA version today!

Put your job hunt on auto-pilot. You deserve a break.