You can get a new job in a month. Is that a bold claim backed by little to no research? Undoubtedly. But, I’ve watched this work a few times. I’ve watched as family, friends, and former colleagues hit the point of no return and decided to explore what was outside of their bubble. And I know for a fact that it can work for you—mainly because recently, it worked for me.

If you’re feeling stuck, then this post is for you. If you’re happy with where you’re at, this post isn’t for you—simple as that. I hope by the end I can give you some steps to bolster your confidence and provide some strategies to get the ball rolling. You shouldn’t be spending your days in a slump. You can’t get down on yourself (it’ll only halt progress). You should and can fix your situation in the short term with the goal of having long term rewards. It’s time for you to truly get to work.

Now, as a disclaimer, there is a target population for the method I used. The formula works best if you have a college degree, 1-2 years proven experience, and know exactly what you want to get into. For me, I have a Bachelors in Writing, a bunch of samples from my work experience, and knew I wanted to continue being a writer. Why do I think that this is the best sample for those job hunting? That’s a great question.

Nearly all of the new jobs created from the recent economic recovery went to college grads. I wholeheartedly agree that higher education can be a bother. You might never end up in your field or you could end up thinking it was a useless experience. But at a minimum, the truth of the matter is employers are using a college degree as a gatekeeper. Find me a job that doesn’t say “Bachelor degree in [insert field] required” that can provide steadily and withstand an economic downturn and I’ll say that you’ve found a diamond in the rough. You may not “need” a degree to do the job but you’ll definitely need it to get the job.

Another gatekeeper is experience. When I first left college, I had a handful of internships and still only had one offer out of 300 applications. This time around I had four offers out of 83 apps, which is a drastic improvement. The difference was that my experience now provided me with concrete writing samples—noticeably different from my first job search. The key thing about experience is longevity. The longer you can stay somewhere, the better off you will be.

But you won’t be better off if you don’t know what position you want. If you don’t know what you want, this post won’t help you. If you are thinking about a career change, my advice would be to get the education (degree, certifications, etc.), and then look for experience. But if you are set on what you want to do, all you will need is a little willpower. Stick with it and it’ll become a reality.

Finally, the most important gatekeeper is the economy. This post is heavily geared for the market in 2016 and other relatively stable markets. There will be recessions where it is impossible to get a job. But in today’s market, getting a job with the criteria listed above is relatively simple. And don’t worry, economies can recover. Alright, are you ready to get on with the steps?

Step One: Review Everything

First things first, you need to make sure that your situation is in order outside of sprucing up a resume and a cover letter. Make sure you are healthy—physically and mentally. Set a timeline. Figure out where you want to live. Make sure you know who will be affected by this (spouse, children, parents, etc.). Get your financials in order. If you aren’t 100% sure that your situation outside of getting a new job is set, you will encounter problems towards the end of your search. This is how candidates end up rejecting good offers or messing up somewhere along the interview processes. Make sure you are committed and review every aspect of your life because your next job will undoubtedly shake things up.

Another part of organization is documenting the jobs you are looking at and applying for. I used Google Sheets and it worked out fantastic for me. I would recommend organizing your search in the most conducive way for you.

Here is a screenshot of how my list looked:

I hid contact names and phone numbers for privacy reasons. Those were columns C and D. I would recommend adding a “Date Applied” column before status. Looking back on it, this is something I wish I had done during my search.

Step Two: Change Everything

This second step is more commonly expressed. But common sense isn’t always so common. Revise every professional outlet you have—resume, cover letter, samples, LinkedIn profiles, websites, etc. If you aren’t revising, you will get the same results. The most critical part of job searching for me was having the discipline to not spam out boilerplate copy for different companies. The key to making sure your professional appearance matches what a company wants is reading, researching, and revising.

Step Three: Set Quotas

Remember back in step one when I said a timeline was important? It is essential, especially in a month time frame. Just as you have to discipline yourself to rewriting your application materials, you must decide on how many positions you are applying for a day. Mine was 3-5 a day, which over the course of a month is roughly 90-150. As I mentioned earlier, I ended up with 83 total, which is under what I’m advising you to do. Do what is manageable for you and set a quota.

But, if you go under a quota or see that it isn’t working out for you, you can always switch philosophies. Try setting a goal of one quality application for the first day and then day after day trying to up the quantity. Through this method, you can essentially compete with yourself.

Step Four: Hush Hush

For the love of God, keep your search on the DL. I do not recommend, by any means, informing coworkers or anyone who could spill the beans. This is simply a cause to add stress to yourself. If you’re the only one who knows you have an interview, who cares if it doesn’t go well? If you let the whole city know, someone is going to ask you how it went. Not to mention, it might not always tickle your employer’s fancy if they know you want to jet. Use your best judgment and only let your closest confidants know.

Step Five: Be Professional

Spend time tuning up those soft skills, because you will need them for this step. Make sure that you are either reading articles online, taking Lynda.com classes, or practicing with a career center, friend, or family member to hone in on interview practices. The most organized person in the world won’t get a job if they can’t stand their ground in an interview. Here are some tips:

Default to “Ms.” unless you know if a woman is married
Use “Hello,” “Good Morning/Afternoon,” and “Greetings” to start emails
Don’t forget to hit spell check
Tell stories of your experience that show success and don’t contradict your resume
Say thank you and follow-up
Ask questions, this is the key way to let a company know you are interested

For further reading on interviews, strategies, and ramping up soft skills, I recommend reading Great People Decisions by Claudio Fernández-Aráoz.

Step Six: Negotiate More

Last but certainly not least, you need to treat yourself. The amount of people I know that do not negotiate is insanely high. I always negotiate if a company offers me lower than what I’ve asked for. You have to remember that this is your livelihood, it does not make sense for you to accept a lower number than what you desire unless the company has the perks and promises to back it up. Don’t be afraid, the worst that they can say is no. Most likely, they’ve budgeted for more than what they are offering you.

Some tricks to negotiation is to ask what they are offering for the position, provide reasons why you need more money (if necessary), and to use sites like Glassdoor and Indeed to see what people have made in similar positions. For every company that isn’t willing to negotiate, there’s always another company that is. Stick to your guns and it will work out for you.

The Challenge

You now have a solid base knowledge. At this point, you can keep researching (if you feel like you need it) or you can follow these steps and test your limits to see if you can make the leap in a month. If you are truly unsatisfied and are willing to risk change, I encourage you to take this challenge.

I would love to conduct data on this method. So if you do pursue this and it works out for you, let me know! I’ll update the post with the results that come through (completely anonymous, of course). Results are not guaranteed because I don't have anything besides anecdotal evidence at this point.

Good luck in your search if you are taking the challenge. I believe in you and all you need is to believe in yourself. Feel free to start a dialogue below if you need more advice.

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Jarrett Weber is a Michigan based Technical Writer and Freelance Writer dedicated to sharing his insights with other professionals. Feel free to connect with him and send a message!

Note: This blog originally appeared on LinkedIn on 08/19/16.