It is now March 1st and I’ve been actively job searching and applying since the beginning of January. The free time I used to spend dawdling on Facebook is now reallocated to browsing job postings. I haven’t felt the need to apply for every position that I come across; instead, I’ve been focusing on the ones that piqued my interest. I had been doing pretty well; I’ve been applying for 3-4 jobs each week.
But this week, something happened. I found IT. I found the job that made my foot metaphorically pop (see Real World: Job Search #3). It’s perfect. Absolutely everything I want, except for the fact that it’s only an anticipated opening. And now, everything pales in comparison. This anticipated opening has been the only application I’ve submitted all week. After falling in love with position, I’m starting to ask myself: How much is enough?
How do I know when I’m done applying for jobs? Do you say to yourself, “Self, this is good enough. Let’s stop here” and sit and pray that you get a job out of those schools? Or do you keep looking because you never know what will pop up? Do you keep applying because what if you don’t get any of those jobs?
I know that there is no magic number when it comes to applying for jobs. Everyone is going to have his or her own goals. Everyone is looking for something different. And everyone has his or her own level of comfort in the job search process. Me? I’m sitting comfortably at about 15 applications. But I know people who have applied for 50! So how do you know how much is enough for you? How much is enough?
I posed this question to one of our faculty members and I’ve been assured that this is an age-old question. Every year, graduate students ask this question. And the answer is, there is no answer. You can apply for as many jobs as you want, but you only need one job.
Now, March is here…and it’s prime time for interviewing. Conference season is upon us. I’ve got several interviews lined up at the conference I’m attending and a few more phone interviews on the schedule, too.
So…do I stop? Or do I keep going? How much is enough?
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Hey! I will be honest with you. Keep up the aggressive pace. I am in a similar situation and I know that you have a lot of awesome opportunities set up but how can slowing the search now do anything but hurt you. It keeps your brain active and you may find a really cool position two weeks from now. I believe in keeping the good momentum up until you are sitting behind a desk. Just my two cents on the matter. Best of Luck!
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