Welcome to the Job Search!
As of today, you are no longer a learner—you are a Career Hacker! Whether you’re just starting out or well on your way to landing your first development role, this guide will help you navigate your job search with clear direction. No matter where you are in the process, these stages are designed to keep you on track and focused.
Contents
Overview
As you move through your job search over the next few months, your priorities will evolve, and your strategies will adapt. To help guide you, we’ve broken the search down into distinct stages. Each of these stages comes with its own set of recommendations, expectations, and useful insights to ensure you stay focused and productive.
Here are the key stages that you’ll likely experience throughout your job search journey:
Sprint StageOverdue Material StageApplication StageInterviewing StagePending Offer + Negotiation StageBeyond the Offer Stage
Ideal Stage Progression
While every job search is unique, and many factors can affect your timeline, there is an ideal way to progress through these stages.
In a perfect scenario—assuming you stay on top of your materials and make consistent progress—you might experience the following progression:
Even in an ideal situation, the job search takes time! While some searches may be quicker, most will take a few months. However, you have significant control over how long the process lasts, depending on how actively you manage your search.
Most Career Hackers experience ups and downs throughout the search, with some periods of quiet followed by traction and momentum. Job search progression is rarely linear, and you may find yourself moving between stages, particularly between the Application and Interviewing stages, multiple times. It’s natural for these stages to take longer or overlap depending on how the process unfolds.
Overdue Material Stage
One important thing to highlight is the Overdue Material Stage, which is not part of the ideal progression. One of the most common barriers to a smooth job search is delayed preparation—whether it’s building a portfolio, refining your resume, or completing technical projects.
The more time it takes to complete your job search materials, the longer the overall search tends to be. This can make it harder to maintain motivation and momentum. While preparing for a job search can feel overwhelming, staying organized and finishing these materials early is key to setting yourself up for a productive, streamlined job hunt.
Remember, the effort you put into preparing your materials now will pay off by reducing the time spent in each stage later. By committing to preparation during the Sprint Stage, you’ll maximize your momentum and move through the stages of your job search more efficiently.