Military Transition Academy
Section 13: Searching and Applying to Jobs

The Job Search

Complete & Continue Next Lesson Learn More

Even if you're not ready to apply, it's never too early to start researching.

The earlier you start, the more you'll understand the job market and what employers are looking for.

Getting an early start provides a crucial time buffer. The time between the start of your research and when you plan to start applying can be used to obtain skills, experience, and other qualifications you might be missing.

The job search is a marathon, not a sprint. It's not something you do once and completely forget about. It's small spurts of effort to research and find jobs that match your interests.

One way to allocate time to the job search is to build it into your daily/weekly routine. Even if it's 30-60 minutes after work or on the weekend, make it a habit. Those small, sustained efforts will pay off in the long run.

You can use a technique called the 80/20 Rule to determine where your time is spent. In this, 80% of your time is spent on target opportunities (the target companies and job titles listed in your worksheet). The remaining 20% time is spent searching for new opportunities that you may not have initially thought of.

Here are the actions to take:

80% Time

  • Review LinkedIn job notifications for top companies, roles, and locations.

  • Read individual job postings from these notifications.

    • Do your skills and experience match?

    • Do you meet all qualifications?

    • Are there any you're missing?

    • What trends come up across postings for similar job titles?

  • Visit the careers page for each of your target companies.

    • Bookmark these to save time navigating to the site.

  • Filter each careers page by the most recently posted jobs. You can also filter by title and location to narrow your search.

  • Bookmark or favorite any roles you plan to apply to. Set a goal to submit your application within 24-48 hours.

20% Time

  • Search for jobs on LinkedIn by business area (finance, human resources, sales) or generalized titles (manager, coordinator, project, construction, administrator, etc.).

    • You can also do a general search by location, without any job titles.

  • Review job postings to gauge your interest and if you meet the qualifications.

  • If you plan to apply to any, bookmark or favorite the role. Give yourself 24-48 hours to submit your application.