Whether you're a college student, recent graduate, or mid-level professional, your life is probably moving at a frenetic pace. It's likely you feel you don't even have time to organize your closet, let alone your job search.

With a job search, the amount of research you need to conduct and the quantity of information you need to manage (e.g., facts, figures, names, phone numbers, dates, addresses, and so on) is staggering. As a student, you can often make a mistake or two with relative impunity; as a job hunter, a small mistake can ruin your chances of obtaining employment.

The Basics
Ultimately, being well organized comes down to following four simple principles:

• manage your time effectively
• take thorough notes
• unclutter your workspace
• create an organizational system that works

No Pain, No Gain
Obviously, all things being equal, the more time you can spend looking for a job each week, the better the chance that you will find what you want faster. How much time should you allocate to your search on a daily or weekly basis? Let's put it this way: To get good results, you should probably try to spend at least two hours a day, six days a week on your job hunt. Always give yourself one day off per week to recuperate and recharge, since job hunting is a high-stress activity.

As far as how long it will take you to find the right position, that depends on a number of factors: how much time you devote to your search, the supply of and demand for workers in the field you're pursuing, your level of skill and experience, and luck. Typically, predictions range from three months to a year, but it depends on so many different factors that it's impossible to put a concrete number on it.

The bottom line: You're going to have to manage your time carefully so that you don't get overwhelmed and, more important, don't make any costly errors.

How Do I Begin?
First off, be realistic about how much time is required to accomplish your job search goals. For example, if it takes you roughly an hour to write a targeted cover letter, and your goal is to send out ten tailor-made letters each week, then your job-hunting meter is already at ten hours. Factor in the time you need to research each organization, follow up on previous inquiries, develop new contacts, and you can quickly see that the hours are starting to pile up. Whatever figure you arrive at, pad that by at least 15 percent to account for the dreaded x factor (e.g., your hard drive crashes, your printer runs out of toner, you succumb to writer's block, etc.).

Now that you have a rough time estimate, step back and look at the big picture. What are your other time commitments? Is there any place where you can cut back temporarily so that you can borrow time for your job hunt? Whatever you decide, keep it in perspective and go with what feels right to you.

When In Doubt, Write It Out
During your job search you will come across many useful pieces of information from a variety of sources -- newspapers, magazines, books, friends, professors, and so on. To keep track of it all, always keep a notebook handy and take thorough notes. If you're making a follow-up call to an employer, you can jot down the name of the assistant who fielded your phone call. The next time you call, you'll win brownie points by addressing the assistant by name.

Tools of the Trade
Managing a job search requires you to efficiently and accurately keep track of voluminous amounts of information and communications -- a tremendous challenge for the non-detail-oriented person.

At the beginning of your search, most of the information you accumulate will result from the research you do. You'll have notes and photocopies of articles, descriptions of various jobs, lists of resources you've used, as well as names of people you might want to speak with. Buy some manilla folders to categorize the information so that it is easier to retrieve.

Organizing Employer Information
Once you decide on the work you're pursuing, you'll need to figure out who you want to do it for. You'll be compiling a large list of prospective employers, which you will gradually winnow down by matching up the criteria you have deemed most important (e.g., size of organization, geographical location, growth potential, etc.) against what each employer has to offer.

Have Portfolio, Will Interview
You should also be organizing your portfolio. It should include copies of your resume, references, and letters of recommendation, and samples of your work: essays, research papers, published articles, artwork, brochures of events you developed or managed, or computer programs you designed.

Your biggest challenge will be keeping track of your schedule. Make sure that you write down and regularly check the time and date of all your job-hunting activities. Also note when you need to follow up with employers you've approached but haven't heard from.

One way to keep a handle on your schedule is a communications log. In the log, you take notes about your impressions of your target employer and the people you meet and speak with. The log will serve as a comprehensive history of your interaction with a given company, and will help you in preparing for interviews, handling follow-up phone calls, and considering offers.

Keeping it in Perspective
If you follow these simple guidelines, you'll be able to stay on top of your job hunt. There's no magic to it, just hard work, persistence, and maintaining conscious.