Did you know that job seekers who <a href="https://www.zippia.com/advice/how-many-applications-does-it-take-to-get-a-job/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">apply for between 21 and 80 positions have the highest likelihood of getting a job offer</a>? In our current economic climate, it&rsquo;s even more. That&rsquo;s a lot of applications to create, personalize, and keep track of. When you&rsquo;ve been dealing with a layoff, the last thing you want to do is make your job search more stressful than it has to be.
We&rsquo;ve got 7 tips to help you organize your job search so you can focus on highlighting how great you are, rather than tracking down that file that you swear was on your desktop yesterday.
This post is part of&nbsp;The Layoff Series, a series of blog posts built to help jobseekers get back on their feet after a layoff. Be sure to check out the first article in the series, <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/what-to-do-after-a-layoff" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">What To Do After a Layoff</a>, to learn how to handle a layoff from the moment it happens until you&rsquo;re ready to job hunt. 
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">How To Organize Your Job Search </h2>
For many people, job searching becomes a full-time job. When it carries that much weight in your life, it deserves just as much care and attention as a full-time job would. Staying organized can help to reduce stress in the job search process and make applying for roles easier and faster, but it takes some habit-forming. 
<h3 dir="ltr">Tip #1: Create a Tracker</h3>
Let&rsquo;s face it: If you&rsquo;ve got 80 job applications floating out in the world, it&rsquo;s going to be pretty impossible to keep track of them without some level of tracker set up.
You have a couple of options when it comes to tracking your efforts ranging from as simple as a spreadsheet to as involved as a project management platform.
If you want to keep it simple, try using a spreadsheet. Create a column each for:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Company name
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">If you&rsquo;re working directly with a recruiter or referral, add in a column with their name and contact information.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Job title</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Date you applied</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">A link to the job posting</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">A link to the resume and cover letter you applied with</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Status
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">You can have statuses like, &ldquo;Waiting for Response&rdquo;, &ldquo;Interview Scheduled&rdquo;, &ldquo;Rejected&rdquo;, &ldquo;Declined&rdquo;, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Then every time you apply for a role, simply add it to your tracker so you can follow up as needed.&nbsp;
If you want something a little more in depth that can help you assign tasks and due dates, try a tool like <a href="https://www.notion.so/templates" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Notion</a> where you can download a premade template with a tracker already set up. You can also try a project management tool like <a href="https://monday.com/project-management" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Monday.com</a> or <a href="https://asana.com/uses/project-management" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Asana</a>.&nbsp; 
<h3>Tip #2: Make a Top 3 List and Connect on LinkedIn</h3>
We know it can feel really uncomfortable to network so remind yourself that this is exactly what LinkedIn is for and when&nbsp;<a href="https://www.zippia.com/advice/how-many-applications-does-it-take-to-get-a-job/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">80% of job offers come from networking</a>, use that network! Remember to add this outreach to your tracker to keep track of who you talked to and what information you shared with them and what they shared with you. 
<h3 dir="ltr">Tip #3: Have an Easily Editable Resume</h3>
While we know that a <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/the-360deg-view-of-you-how-transferable-skills-can-help-you-make-a-career-change" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">360&deg; view of a candidate</a> is unbelievably valuable, hiring teams often rely on resumes to organize their own hiring process. Since they&rsquo;re so important in the hiring process, resumes need to represent the best parts of your work experience. It&rsquo;s good practice to have a resume that is more of a template that allows you to edit and change any of the contents to align with the particular role you&rsquo;re applying for.
Remember: When sending in your resume, send it with a file name that has your first and last name in it like John_Smith_Resume. If the job posting requires particular formatting rules, follow those too.&nbsp;
If you need help getting your resume started, we&rsquo;ve got your back. Our <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/resume-builder" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Resume Builder</a> is a completely free tool that will guide you through building your resume so you can overcome that fear that comes from staring at a blank page! 
<h3 dir="ltr">Tip #4: Timeblock Your Calendar</h3>
Remember how we mentioned that job searching often becomes a full-time job? Treat it like one!
That means, having working hours and breaks on your calendar, tasks to complete each day, and blocked out time to prepare for interviews and follow up. Job searching is stressful enough - don&rsquo;t add more to your plate by working at all hours.
If you want to learn more about how you can timeblock, check out this <a href="https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/time-blocking" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">how-to guide from Todoist</a>. 
<h3 dir="ltr">Tip #5: Set up Job Alerts</h3>
What if you could job hunt without actually job hunting? Job alerts are available on most major job boards (including <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/jobs" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">CareerCircle</a>) to help you get jobs that fit your needs delivered directly to your inbox.
To set up a job alert with CareerCircle, simply login to your account, select &ldquo;Your Jobs&rdquo; from your dashboard homepage, and click &ldquo;Create Job Alert.&rdquo; You can even set up alerts based on your certification!
<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/D4DFPa54Qpms8qPPmqCD" alt="undefined" width="326" height="407" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
Setting up job alerts means that you won&rsquo;t have to scroll through endless pages of new positions and instead make sure that you&rsquo;re focusing your search on the roles that most closely align with your career goals. 
<h3 dir="ltr">Tip #6: Clean Up Your Inbox</h3>
Build out some folders in your inbox that make it easy for you to track your applications and job opportunities.&nbsp;
You can organize by the action you need to take and have a set of folders like &ldquo;Application Submitted&rdquo;, &ldquo;Interview Scheduled&rdquo;, &ldquo;Second Interview Scheduled&rdquo;, etc. Or you can organize by the role and create a folder for each position you&rsquo;ve applied for.
You can also set automations within your inbox, like with Gmail&rsquo;s Snooze function, to remind you to follow up with any roles you haven&rsquo;t heard back from.&nbsp;
Remember: Your email address should be easy-to-read and understandable. Consider making it your first and last name or your first initial and last name.&nbsp;
If you don&rsquo;t already have a professional email address, create a new one before beginning your job search. Some people even create a new email address for their search simply to keep it separated from their personal emails. Whatever works for you is the best route to go! 
<h3 dir="ltr">Tip #7: Draft Your Answers to Common Interview Questions</h3>
There are some questions in the interview process that will come up again and again. By taking the time to think through these questions and what your answers are, you can feel more equipped to handle any interview that comes your way.
Some common questions include:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Tell me about yourself.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Why do you want to work here?</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Tell me about a time when you faced a difficult situation at work and how you handled it.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">What do you think you can bring to this position?</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">How do you handle multiple projects going on at the same time? What keeps you organized?</li>
</ul>
Remember: Use the STAR method when you are answering questions that are behavioral-based like, &ldquo;Tell me about a time when you faced a difficult situation at work.&rdquo; The <a href="https://www.themuse.com/advice/star-interview-method" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">STAR method</a> helps you discuss the situation, task, action, and result of whatever you&rsquo;re describing.
For example, &ldquo;As a project manager, I was tasked with implementing a new project management tool across all of our departments. My goal was to train all of the department leads as well as hitting a 60% usage rate across all team members. I coordinated training times with our implementation manager to get all department leads trained and then scheduled and led training sessions on a one-on-one basis with each of the departments. I created a user guide for how our team members would be expected to use the tool and scheduled standing check-ins on a biweekly basis to go over any issues team members were expecting. By the end of the three-month implementation period, all department leads felt confident leading the usage of the tool and we hit a 80% usage rate across all members - a 20% increase over our goal.&rdquo;
Jot down your answers in a note-taking app and, while you can always refer to notes during an interview, it&rsquo;s particularly impressive to have a couple of talking points memorized.&nbsp;
If you want to take your interview preparation to the next level, check out our <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/quizzes/interview-prep" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Interview Prep tool</a>! 
Job searching is incredibly stressful, especially after a layoff, but being organized could make all of the difference for you. &nbsp;
Do you have a favorite tip to organize your job search? Let us know about it over on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/careercircle/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>!

Job searching is incredibly stressful, especially after a layoff, but being organized could make all of the difference for you.

The Layoff Series: 7 Tips to Organize Your Job Search

The Layoff Series: 7 Tips To Organize Your Job Search

If you&rsquo;re anything like a lot of our partners, you have diversity hiring goals and you need help hitting them. Or maybe you&rsquo;re passionate about diversity, but need to get your stakeholders on board with its value. Or you might be aware that<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/championing-dei-in-tech-creative-ways-to-source-candidates-from-underrepresented-groups" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank"> diversity in the workplace</a> is great, but you have no idea where to start.
That&rsquo;s where we come in. 
Let&rsquo;s start off with the basics around diversity hiring. 
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">What Is Diversity Hiring?</h2>
Diversity hiring is a recruiting strategy that aims to actively seek out candidates from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds and decrease bias in the hiring process.
It&rsquo;s important to note that diversity goes far beyond race. It can include education, gender, sex, age, disability, and more. Embracing diversity means embracing the differences between people and valuing them for what they individually bring to the table.
<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/gxxR3wElQiCkHFDUuXzl" alt="undefined" width="342" height="342" class="butter-float-left">
Contrary to popular belief, diversity hiring as an idea and practice existed long before the social justice movements of 2020. But as we progress as a society, we&rsquo;re always identifying the gaps between what we&rsquo;ve done and what we need to do which has led to the increase in diversity hiring talk in recent years.
One of the largest misunderstandings when it comes to diversity is the belief that it happens in a vacuum. The reality is that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are interconnected and need to be treated as such.&nbsp;
We often imagine diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (<a href="https://www.aihr.com/blog/diversity-equity-inclusion-belonging-deib/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">DEIB</a>) like a flywheel that keeps the engine of your hiring process moving at a stable pace. In order to keep everything afloat, you need to invest in all of them to really see change. 

<h2 style="text-align: center;">Why Is Diversity Hiring Important?</h2>
First and foremost, diversity hiring is important because it provides opportunities for people to live a more successful life. It helps to build a community within the workplace that reflects the world outside of it and ensures that all are welcome.
But there are even benefits beyond the social good.
In a 2019 analysis, McKinsey found that, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.</a>&rdquo;
The Boston Consulting Group also found that, &ldquo;<a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-and-where-diversity-drives-financial-performance" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">The presence of enabling conditions for diversity &mdash; such as fair employment practices, participative leadership, top management support, and open communications &mdash; is worth up to 12.9% in innovation revenue.</a>&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s not just financial gains your company will see, you will also increase your employer brand and team retention.
<a href="https://www.quantumworkplace.com/future-of-work/inclusion-in-the-workplace-research#:~:text=Here's%20what%20we%20found%3A,inclusion%20should%20be%20developed%20simultaneously" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Quantum Workplace</a> found that when employees believed diversity and inclusion wasn&rsquo;t valued at work they were less engaged than those who worked at companies that did value diversity and inclusion.
And if you&rsquo;re looking to increase your employer brand and appeal to the top candidates, a <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/resources/hr-and-recruiting-stats/#diversity-inclusion-and-belonging" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Glassdoor study</a> found that 76% of employees and job seekers report a diverse workforce is an essential part of evaluating a company.
Investing in diversity hiring will drive results across all areas of your business from hiring to revenue. 
<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">How CareerCircle Supports Diversity Hiring</h2>
Regardless of where you&rsquo;re at on your diversity hiring journey, everyone needs a partner.
We&rsquo;ve been that partner since 2019, so we know how overwhelming it can feel to do diversity hiring effectively. Since our inception, 75% of our placements are veterans, women, and people from underserved communities. Here&rsquo;s how we make it happen. 
<h3 dir="ltr">CareerCircle Was Built For Diversity Hiring</h3>
CareerCircle originated from Allegis Group&rsquo;s desire to bring equity to every step of the hiring process. Our goal has always been to close the skills gap and help people from underrepresented communities get access to the skills they need to change their lives. From educating employers on the importance of diversity hiring to increasing diversity in talent pools through our membership platform or supporting employers with traditional staffing support, we&rsquo;re with you every step of the way. 
<h3 dir="ltr">A Focus on Equity Since Day One</h3>
Equality is great, but the way to real, impactful, sustainable change is equity. Equity at work and in the hiring process means giving people whatever support they need for their specific needs, rather than giving the exact same treatment to all people like equality dictates.
Since our inception, we have focused on equity over equality because we believe that equity allows us to actively seek out those who need support and provide them with the resources that they specifically need to be successful, like scholarships for certifications or one-on-one career coaching.
We do the same for employers by bringing our expertise to every interaction to provide the partnership with whatever resources and support will most benefit your goals. 
<h3 dir="ltr">A One-Stop-Shop for Diversity Hiring</h3>
Sourcing, screening, <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/build-a-diverse-candidate-pool-and-grow-your-talent-pipeline-with-careercircle" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">building your diverse talent pipeline</a>, and even traditional staffing support &ndash; we can do it all! We&rsquo;d love to talk through your goals, roadblocks, and how we can help you reach all of your diversity hiring goals.&nbsp; 
<a href="https://go.careercircle.com/request-a-demo" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Get in touch with us to get the details on how we can serve your team!</a> 
<h3 dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">We Practice What We Preach</h3>
We know that investing in diverse, upskilled and reskilled candidates works because we do it ourselves. 30% of the CareerCircle team came from a certification or course offered by our educational partners. Since joining the CareerCircle team, they have become some of our top performers.
It can be a difficult switch to go from relying on a resume and on-the-job experience to a 360&deg; view of a candidate, but as a partner, we&rsquo;re happy to guide you through that process. 
Ultimately, diversity hiring may feel overwhelming, but with the right partner on your side, you can feel confident making the changes that you need to make.

Diversity hiring may feel overwhelming, but with the right partner on your side, you can feel confident making the changes that you need to make.

How CareerCircle Supports Your Diversity Hiring Goals

It seems like you can&rsquo;t go a day without being inundated with headlines and stories about layoffs, cutbacks, or hiring freezes. According to <a href="https://layoffs.fyi/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Layoffs.fyi</a>, over 110,000 people have been laid off from work in the tech industry in 2023 so far. If you&rsquo;re one of those 110,000, this blog series is for you.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we&rsquo;ll be giving you a step-by-step guide about how you can handle a layoff including what to do, how to stand out in a tight job market, <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/quizzes/interview-prep" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">ace your next interview</a>, and more.
We're starting off with the most common question people have: "What should I do if I get laid off?"

<h2 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">What To Do After a Layoff</h2>
Each company handles layoffs differently, but regardless of how they go about it, there are a few things that you need to do to make sure you have all of the information you need to move forward.

<h3 dir="ltr">When You&rsquo;re in the Moment</h3>
Even when facing the emotional turmoil that a layoff causes, there are some practical things that need to be covered.
Get the information about the layoff in writing. Some companies choose to deliver the news via personal calls and while that is the better way to handle it emotionally, you will want a paper trail of the situation.
Your company should be responsible for communicating with you about any severance pay, health benefits like COBRA, and 401k management. But if they don&rsquo;t proactively communicate, don't be afraid to ask.
Take some time to note down any accomplishments you&rsquo;re particularly proud of so you can add them to your resume. For example, &ldquo;Expanded platform member base by 35% in 60 days&rdquo; or &ldquo;Increased profitability by 7% by reducing operations overspending.&rdquo; Those numbers help to back up the story on your resume and help companies to see the value they can expect from you. You could also ask any existing managers for reference letters or simply connect with them (and your coworkers) on LinkedIn so you can reach out when the need arises.

<h3 dir="ltr">Take a Breath</h3>
<a href="https://hbr.org/2023/01/managing-your-emotions-after-being-laid-off#:~:text=Getting%20laid%20off%20can%20feel,out%20your%20next%20career%20move." rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Going through a layoff often feels like a personal insult</a>. For many, it&rsquo;s not just the anxiety of being out of work that hits hard, it&rsquo;s the abrupt change to your routine, stability, and even your identity.&nbsp;
After you&rsquo;ve taken care of your initial needs (all those steps above), give yourself a little bit of time to process and take care of yourself mentally.&nbsp;
This is harder than it seems.&nbsp;
Most people want to jump into action and begin polishing their resume and getting back on the job search, but giving yourself time to process will help you handle the rest of the journey better.&nbsp;
And remember, it will take you more than 24 hours to fully process it, but taking at least some time for yourself to acknowledge and name your feelings can help you approach the rest of this journey with the compassion that you deserve.

<h3 dir="ltr">Think About Your Next Move</h3>
That&rsquo;s right, we said &ldquo;think.&rdquo; Don&rsquo;t jump immediately into job searching, networking, and promoting yourself until you know exactly what you want to do. Dealing with a layoff is one of those times in life when you&rsquo;re essentially forced to consider what your next move should be.
Here are some prompts to help you plan your next step:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
What did you like or dislike about the responsibilities of your last role?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
What accomplishments are you most proud of throughout your career?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Are there any roles or career paths you&rsquo;ve always wanted to go for, but never gave yourself permission to?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Are there any dream companies you wish you could work for?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Have you ever considered working for yourself? If so, what would you do if you were your own boss?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Is there anything you&rsquo;ve had on your to-do list that you&rsquo;ve wanted <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/courses" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">to learn</a>, but just haven&rsquo;t found the time for?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
What sort of pay, flexibility, and work environment do you need to feel most content with your life?
</li>
</ul>
One of the things you may discover is that it&rsquo;s not just time for a new job, it&rsquo;s time for a break or a career change. We recently sat down with our Head of Product, Cecily Guggisberg, to highlight <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/careercircle-career-journey-cecily-guggisberg" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">her story of taking a career break after facing burnout</a> and if you&rsquo;ve been feeling overwhelmed, her story will resonate and give you the inspiration you need.
Once you are more confident about the path you want to take, you can share your goals with others.

<h3 dir="ltr">Update Your Network and Get To Work</h3>
When you&rsquo;ve worked through the emotional impact (and that may take a bit) and considered what you&rsquo;d like your next move to be, it&rsquo;s time to update your professional networks so that everything public is up to date.
We've shared some suggestions about how to announce your layoff on LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/careercircle_how-to-write-a-layoff-post-for-linkedin-activity-7041448228424138752-KBis/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>. But first things first, remember to update your experience, open to work status, and make a post about what sort of role you&rsquo;re looking for and what your experience is.
Make sure you update <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/candidates" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">your CareerCircle profile</a>, too! Remember to include any extra experience, training, or certification you went through at your last role.&nbsp;
From there, <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/resume-builder" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">rebuild your resume</a>. Add in any concrete data and results that you have from the projects you worked on at your role.
We&rsquo;ll be diving into how to search for a new job and stand out in the crowd in our next installment of this series, but as you start your job hunt, try to schedule it like you&rsquo;d schedule your work hours. It can be easy to get completely absorbed in job searching when you need a new role, but if you go too hard, you&rsquo;re just going to burnout.
Schedule your hours of working (because job searching is work), and try to limit your efforts to those times. Remember to take time off, too! You deserve vacation days just like any other worker does.

We know that being laid off is never on anyone&rsquo;s career plan. It can be emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting, but please remember that you are not alone. We hope that this series will be a resource to help guide you through this tough time and always remember that the <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/candidates" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">CareerCircle team</a> is here to support you. In the next installment, we&rsquo;ll be looking at how you can <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/the-layoff-series-7-tips-to-organize-your-job-search" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">organize your job search</a>. Stay tuned!

Each company handles layoffs differently, but regardless of how they go about it, there are some things that you need to do to move forward.

The Layoff Series: What To Do After a Layoff

We're starting off our new layoff series with the most common question people have: "What should I do if I get laid off?"

*UPGRADE IN PROGRESS* -- CareerCircle platform upgrades will occur between Monday June 27th 10PM Eastern Time through Tuesday June 28th 4AM Eastern Time.&nbsp; The system may be intermittently unavailable during this timeframe.&nbsp;&nbsp;

*UPGRADE IN PROGRESS* -- CareerCircle is upgrading its capabilities and as a result the system may be temporarily unavailable as we bring new capabilities and infrastructure online to better serve our members.&nbsp; If you receive an error during this timeframe please bear with us as we're working to improve our system and you may need to retry that operation at a later time.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Keep up to date with CareerCircle's latest blog posts on keeping an inclusive workforce.

The Layoff Series: 7 Tips To Organize Your Job Search

How CareerCircle Supports Your Diversity Hiring Goals

The Layoff Series: What To Do After a Layoff

The Layoff Series: 7 Tips To Organize Your Job Search

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