Job hunting sucks. Plain and simple, finding a job is a lot more work than having one and at the end of the day there’s no paycheck to make up for it. On top of that, most of us aren’t very good at it. It’s not like one gets a lot of practice, and if you do that’s a whole other problem. So, once we’ve got a top-notch resume and cover letter what should us normal folks do to get a job without losing our minds in the process?

1) Do your job searching out of the house. You’re probably already in the habit of going out to work every day and that’s a habit you’ll want to keep. It’ll also help cut the distractions. You won’t find yourself stopping to pet the cat or change CDs, and that productivity increase will help. It’ll also keep you out there interacting with people. Staying plugged in to your community will help your perspective.

2) Network with your community and people in your industry. Yeah, you’ve heard this one a lot, but it bears repeating. It’s what you know AND who you know. While you’re out of work it’s essential that you keep your hand in and your name out there. Your situation is temporary, don’t let your reputation atrophy.

3) Use Twitter. This goes hand in hand with the advice above. Tweet about relevant topics for your industry and some of the cool things you’ve been doing. When people want to find out about you they’ll see you know your stuff, and when they look for stuff on your industry they’ll find you. The more they see your name the more important you seem, so keep up with that profile.

4) Keep a job search diary. Keep track of who you’ve applied to and when. That way you can keep up with your application status without turning into a stalker. When you get the interview you’ll have a record of everything you’ve given to that company and can look back over that material yourself. Also, when you feel like a total bum and it seems like you’ve been wasting your time and achieving nothing you can glance back a see just how much you’ve actually done. You’ll feel better, promise.

5) Reward yourself. Life isn’t all about work and the person who forgets that finds himself on the express line to the bughouse. Take up a hobby. Something you’ve always promised yourself you’d do when you got the time. You have it now and you’ve worked hard on your job search, so relax and recharge a bit. Your family and sanity will thank you for it.