When should you look for a job? The answer that’s come down to us through the ages, one that rings true to everyone who has ever ventured into the job market, is that the best time to be looking for a job is when you don’t need one at all. There is no need to conduct a job search each day but if you are always doing some of the things that are part of that search then your career will be stronger and any eventual job search will be better. The best thing about these activities is that they’ll all be beneficial even if you don’t plan to dip a single toe into the job market.
It affects more than the employer’s thought process. It affects you, and your own mindset matters a great deal. If employers want candidates who are confident and positive, no one is in a better position to demonstrate those attributes than the candidate who doesn’t need the job right this minute. The one who can afford to stay where he is while he looks around for the best possible option is the one who is relaxed and secure. Meanwhile, the one who really needs this job, who’s tightly wound and trying too hard, is the one who comes across as desperate. That’s not what hiring managers want to see.
There’s another side to the notion that the best time to be looking is when you don’t need to find something, and that side is where you find the real lesson for employed searchers: You don’t have to be conducting a full-blown job search every day of your working life, but you should always be doing some of the things that are part of that search.
The best thing about these activities is that they’ll all be beneficial even if you don’t plan to dip a single toe into the job market.