{"id":44060,"date":"2013-10-18T12:15:36","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T16:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=44060"},"modified":"2013-10-15T15:00:33","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T19:00:33","slug":"how-many-jobs-should-you-apply-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=44060","title":{"rendered":"How Many Jobs Should You Apply For?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

How Many Jobs Should You Apply For?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"TiffanyNewton\"<\/a>I\u2019ve been without a job for several months now. I had a student position while getting my MLS, and when I graduated, I lost my job. That\u2019s just how student positions go.<\/p>\n

I was recently talking to a colleague and I mentioned that I\u2019d applied for over a hundred\u00a0 jobs in the last six months. He was shocked. He said he\u2019d only ever applied for around 25 jobs in his life. He is around thirty years old, and has had least three different jobs in the past three years that I\u2019ve known him. He told me only stays at each job 1-2 years before he gets \u201cbored\u201d and ready to move on. But he also said that he didn\u2019t apply for any jobs until he knew that\u2019s what he wanted.\u00a0 You see, for him, applying for jobs wasn\u2019t as necessary as it is for me. He had a job, and a paycheck in the very least. His wife also had a good job. It wasn\u2019t that necessary for him to apply for hundreds of jobs.<\/p>\n

There is also extensive advice online about this. Many mention things like \u201cquality of quantity\u201d and being sure to apply for jobs that match your specific skill sets.\u00a0 Randomly applying for every job that has the word \u201clibrary\u201d in the description or \u201clibrarian\u201d in the title is not a very efficient way to apply for jobs. I do have a large range of library interests, including reference, circulation, and technical services, but I\u2019m not that interested in the children\u2019s department, so I tend to stay away from those, although I have applied for a few. Most of the jobs I\u2019ve applied for match my skills and interests. I\u2019ve started to apply for tons of jobs, only to realize after trying to write a good cover letter, that I\u2019m just not that interested in that job. If I can\u2019t make my letter sound passionate and excited about the job, then I simply don\u2019t apply.<\/p>\n

With little income, it is more necessary for me to apply for jobs. Job searching has become my hobby in the past few months. I try to apply for at least one job a day, and each application takes several hours. I tailor my resume to each position, write a brand new cover letter, fill out the application (if necessary), select the references, edit the cover letter and resume, take a break, then come back a bit later and proofread again. If all is well, then I submit the application.<\/p>\n

So to answer the question, how many jobs should you apply for? Are you applying for too many jobs? Take several things into consideration:<\/p>\n