A lot of the job search is waiting: drop your resume and wait for the interview; attend the interview and wait for more interviews; attend the second interview and wait for the decision. Many jobseekers want to know how long to wait before checking in or moving on.

Don’t wait! Always move on! (Check in after a few days as well but move on in the meantime.) You actually maximize your waiting time by moving on. You work on several job search leads concurrently so that while you are waiting for one, another is invariably moving. Stopping and starting takes a lot more energy and is far less efficient than moving along systematically. You can only make progress systematically when you have multiple leads in play.

This is true when you are currently employed and waiting for that promotion or raise to materialize. Your current employer is but one option. See what else is out there. Keeping your eye on the market enables you to see whether you are compensated fairly. Having other targets in play enables you to have options when you negotiate (and therefore you negotiate more effectively). Sometimes seeing what is out there enables you to confirm that what you have now is indeed best for you, which will comfort you and inspire better work.

Juggling multiple job search targets requires organization, planning, but mostly a mindset shift. You are not at the mercy of the market. You have the power to create more leads that create more opportunities that effectively decrease the overall waiting time. Conversely this means that when your job search or career has stalled you are not doing enough, and you can’t blame the market. Stop ceding control of your job search to waiting for other people. Move on, and have people come after you instead.