When you're applying for many jobs at once, it can be difficult to keep track of your applications and where you are in the process of applying for each job. Knowing how to stay organized during a job search can improve your chances of finding and getting the job you want.

Staying organized when you are looking for a new job can be a job in itself. All those names and dates and details that you originally thought you could just keep in your head soon become too many to manage and, horror of horrors, you find that you are forgetting or misplacing things.

While the ideal scenario is a system which allows you to manage and keep track of your entire career history, in some cases you might just need a quick, and either free or inexpensive, fix before things get out of control. If that's the case, then you probably have it on your computer already.

If you have Microsoft Office Excel on your PC, take a look at the templates that are on offer. In Microsoft Excel 2007, all you need to do is open up the application, click on the Office Button (the colorful one in the top left-hand corner of the screen), select New and then, ignoring the menu bar down the left-hand side of the screen, just type in job search in the search field at the top of the center panel. In amongst the results, you will find a Job Application Log and a Job Search Log.

The Job Application Log allows you to input all the basic details relating to applications that you have submitted, and both this and the Job Search Log has customizable fields so that you can change the headings to suit yourself.

The Job Search Log provides separate worksheets for Resume Submissions, Networking Contacts, Interviews and Career Web Sites in fact everything you need to keep track of where you are at in a simple job search.

In the longer term, you may see huge advantages in a much more comprehensive system. On the basis that anything is better than nothing, however, and that money may be too tight to mention, Excel is a great place to start.

Remember that persistence is key when job seeking. Call to follow up after submitting an application or going in for an interview. Employers highly value this type of dedication.

Wilson Chua Intergity Career Transitions www.integritycareertransitions.com 750 South Shipyard Drive, Suite 300, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Toll Free: 1-302-442-4100 Tel. No.: (302) 504-9960

Tags: career, career transition, career counseling