Are you Tracking? Are you following up? Are you persistent?

Tracking? Well I think I learned that in scouts when I was a kid.

Ok. Do you even know who or what company you have applied for, what the position/requisition number and date was? No?

Me neither-in the past.

Here's a crafty way to keep track of who/what/when/where. You can download the Job Tracker Spreadsheet. Or you can create your own.

Create a spreadsheet with these basic column headings or change them at your discretion.

Company Applied To:

Date Resume Submitted

Sent Cover Letter Y/N

Req/Job Number

Follow up in five working days Y/N

Send Thank you note

Point of Contact name/ph/e-mail

2nd Follow up Date Submitted Resume +15 Y/N

Outcome Interview/Offer

Now when you have filled out the line; go to your calendar, your Franklin planner, your Outlook calendar, your time keeper, desk blotter, whatever.

Enter the following: five working days from the day you submitted your resume flag a task to follow up. Immediately follow up with a thank you note after you have made contact. Plot your second follow up ten days later; and send a second note of thanks, to all involved.

Persistence is key; I was made a written offer by a company that seemed like a fit only to have them pull the requisition because of a contingency, it wasn't their fault; they were subcontractors. But I followed up immediately thanking them for the opportunity; two weeks after, and six weeks after, and low and behold, a full 12 weeks after they rejected me, they came back and said, "Hey, you still interested, that position was finally funded."

Ok, why do you suppose they called me? Persistence.

Wondering who is hiring, and where they are hiring? www.govtcontractorjobs.com