How to build a practical job search plan

Decide the search before you open fifty tabs

Write the role title you will use, the kind of team, and two constraints that are real, such as location or salary floor. A plan that tries to be open to everything becomes a pile of bookmarks.

Pick five target postings and highlight the repeated tasks. Those tasks are the plan. Courses and tools come after, only where a posting keeps asking for something you cannot show.

Give the week a finish line

A workable week is a small number of tailored applications, one proof artifact, and follow-ups that were promised. Track the next action beside each company.

This is a method, not a promise that the week ends with an offer.

Use a planning tool or read a discussion.