Among New Year’s resolutions, finding a new job is right up there in popularity with losing weight, reducing debt, and spending more time with loved ones.

If you’ve resolved to find a new and better job, you can do it faster by using your time more effectively. Here are three suggestions …

#1: Find Extra Time
If you’re not working now, treat your search as a full-time job, requiring at least 40 hours a week. If you are working, devote at least 20 hours a week to your search — the equivalent of a part-time job.

Here’s how to find some of those extra hours you’ll need:

1) Get up one hour earlier each morning (that gives you 5 extra hours per week).

2) Give up all TV, including news, reality shows, etc. If you can’t quit the boob tube completely, limit yourself to one hour per day (10-15 extra hours per week).

3) Take 30 minutes of lunch hour to eat and spend the rest of the time on your search (2-3 extra hours per week).

4) Work on your search for one hour after dinner (5 extra hours per week).

Total per week, not counting weekends: 24-28 extra hours. And if you put in 4-8 hours on Saturday, you can boost that total to 28-36, to get even more done in your job search.

Now, before you start griping about your life getting out of whack with all this extra time devoted to your job search, remember two things:

1) This regimen is TEMPORARY, until you find a new job

2) The faster you find a job, the faster you can go back to watching TV every night and pigging out during lunch hour (although you may not want to!)

#2: Take Time to Reflect
The new year is a great time to look back on what you’ve done and plan to achieve more in the days ahead.

When you analyze your job-search efforts, from networking with old friends and polishing up your resume, to answering Internet job postings and everything in between, ask yourself three questions:

1) What’s producing results?
What have you done that has led directly to job leads, interviews or callbacks from employers? Resolve to do more of that.

2) What’s not producing results?
What has failed to produce job leads? Example: If you’ve emailed 101 copies of your resume to postings from MegaJobSite.com and no employers have called, that tactic is not working. Resolve to change — revamp your resume or apply for different jobs, for example — or stop doing it — like visiting other Web sites.

3) What’s next?
After you decide what to do and what not to do, take 10 minutes to plan today, tomorrow and the rest of this week. You’ll save at least 2-3 hours of wasted time this way. Then, at the end of the week, ask yourself these same three questions again. Keep correcting course and soon you’ll zero in on the job of your dreams.

#3: Take Time to Improve Your Resume
Your resume is often the first impression you make on potential employers. And the better your resume is, the shorter your job search will be.

So it pays to make sure your resume is as powerful and as targeted as possible.

While there isn’t space here to cover the essentials of resume writing (Google “kevin donlin resumes” to find my past articles), you can improve your resume in just a few days by asking your friends for help.

Specifically, try emailing your resume to at least five friends whose judgment you trust. Ask for their input. What do they like? Dislike? Is anything missing or unclear in your resume? Revise and improve your resume accordingly, based on what they tell you.

Bonus: You are networking with and flattering potential references at the same time as you’re getting free editorial help from them. Pretty nifty, huh?

Just be darn sure you return the favor and take the five friends on your “editorial board” out for a celebratory dinner after you get hired.

Here’s hoping these tips will help you use your time wisely and find a new job in the new year!

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others. His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available at http://www.collegerecruiter.com/guaranteed-resumes.php
copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.

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