Looking for a Job IS a Full-Time Job

So let's approach it like a full-time job. And by this I mean that your hunt will be more successful if performed like many projects - in a team. I want to tell the current tale of my gainful unemployment and how a group of us in the same boat have been helping each other get back in the saddle.

The long and short of the backstory is a friend and I that worked together were laid off at the same time. It was sort of natural that we were chatting about it on WhatsApp and sharing leads. I had initiated a 9:00 am daily huddle as part of the process at our previous company, which was always kicked off on slack with a silly gif. We carried this over, half jokingly, into our new civilian life. Basically, our WhatsApp would look like this:

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Me (9:02):

- I will add 5 prospects to my list

- Apply to at least two of them

- Make three new LinkedIn Connections

- Laundry (maybe even fold???)

- NOT graze through kitchen all day.

Friend (9:05):

- Same on laundry

- Follow up with emails to jobs I applied to last week...

- Edit personal website

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For the rest of the day we'd ping each other periodically. "Ugh, I hate cover letters! Can you check my outrageously verbose prose?" "Do you think this job is a good fit?"

Then my friend met another woman, laid off from a different company around the same time, at a networking event and they began chatting about their job hunt. By the end of the evening my friend had told me about her and we formed a WhatsApp group called Scrumdiddlyumptious (root being scrum, for our methodology, and the rest because who doesn't love Roald Dahl's books?).

Adding another person only enriched the experience. There were more job postings to share, more support to give and receive, and additional perspectives to mull over. For example, one member had an in for a job they were very not excited about at their husband's company. There were reasons to go for it (mortgage payments, shared commuting etc.) so she wasn't sure if she should go for it or hold out for a dream job.

I pointed out the risk of taking the job at her husband's company, particularly if not excited about it. Should she not succeed, or simply find herself crazy miserable, her quitting or being dismissed could be terribly awkward for her husband. She admitted that part hadn't even crossed her mind and decided not to go for it. Within 48 hours she had a call back from a much better opportunity and, thus, the first success of our group was born.

We huddled on how to approach the first day, and eagerly awaited news of how training had gone. Now the second member of the group has received an offer, after their own job hunting roller coaster, and we are on hand to provide support and advice on the conditions, commute and other aspects of starting the new gig.

Now it is I alone who am left on the prowl, but I am adding new members as the pilot, if you will, was so successful. The tools and resources we gathered during the process shall not go to waste, and I'm hoping will pay it forward to the next round of job hunters. They are pretty straightforward, but let me recommend, should you form your own group, the following tips and documents:

• Lists of hot companies in your area. There are no shortage of articles such as "Best 50 companies in Denver" etc., from which to scrape this info. Hyperlink career page and LinkedIn urls (and even the HR person's LinkedIn).

• Create shared templates of cover letters. Using a sort of AB testing, track which are the most successful and don't hoard this information, help your friend!

• Have one member be a LinkedIn Premium user and set up the job alerts for everyone's favourite hot companies. This person can be a source for all the premium data a person needs to apply. Everyone chips in or buys this person pizza, obviously.

• Split the duties of scouring the most relevant job boards. Even in a tiny hamlet like Tel Aviv (sorry, Tel Avivians, but it's not New York or Dallas), a ton of jobs can crop up overnight so help each other save time.

There are many more things you can do to help your group, whether it be organizing by role and seniority, practicing phone interviews with each other, resume reviews etc. Anything that can be done to assist, should be. It's an amazing opportunity to not only ask for help, but to give it, and keep the positivity flowing in an otherwise torturous time.

Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork! Happy Job Hunting People.