Keeping up your Job Search
For most people, a career search will last many months. You must be methodical throughout and weather both good news and bad. The whole process will take up a lot of time, but it will be an experience from which you will learn a lot about yourself.
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If re-contacting, check your original contact is still working there.
Keeping a diary
From the day you send your first job application, start keeping a job-search diary. Record what you sent to whom and when, and keep copies of job advertisements and covering letters. Having all this information at hand will enable you to keep track of responses received, as well as whom to chase. The diary will also help you to judge if it is time to make contact again, especially if you have received no reply.
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Try not to take the rejections you receive personally.
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Prepare very thoroughly for all your interviews.
Coping with rejection
Every time you send a job application, you set expectations within yourself. However, more often than not you will have to cope with having those expectations dashed. The reality is that, no matter how suitably qualified you may be, there will be many others equally well qualified. Of all the qualities needed by the job searcher, persistence is the most important. The break you are looking for is that your resumé obtains you a meeting. Every time that happens, you can celebrate a small victory.
Re-contacting people
Events move quickly for employers and recruitment companies, and memories are short. Using your diary, you will be able to monitor whom you have contacted, when, and what response you received. You may consider contacting a different person on a second attempt, or if you received a moderately warm response the first time, a mildly updated resumé can be sent after two or three months. Contacting the same organization every week is excessive, but a phone call every three months or so may increase your chances of success.
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Celebrate every interview that your resumé earns you.
Using your resumé as a development tool
Even when you have completed your career search and landed a new job, make sure you regularly review your resumé. Set aside time twice a year to bring it up to date, identifying recent achievements, and any changes to your role. A well-kept resumé tells you how your career is progressing and helps to identify any areas that need developing. It will also make the start of your next career search easier.