How many job searches are required for unemployment in Texas TWC?

Harris County is exactly where I am! So five a week is what I need to do then. That's actually a lot more than I expected. Good to know it really does vary - I thought my coworker was wrong when she said she only needed two or three.

Fifth week of my claim here and I can confirm the five per week for Harris County. The letter TWC mailed me spelled it out clearly. Keep that letter because that's your official number.

wait so dallas is also 5?? i thought everyone had to do the same amount this whole time

So I should just go by whatever number is in my letter, not what I see posted online somewhere? That makes sense. Mine says five and I'm in Houston so that lines up with what others are saying.

Three weeks into receiving my letter I finally understood what it was actually telling me lol. I kept thinking it was just general information not something I personally had to follow to the exact number.

This needs to be said louder honestly. So many people in my apartment complex have gotten their payments stopped because they thought the work search was optional or that any number was fine. It is not optional and your specific number is in that letter.

The browsing thing is what I was most worried about. I've been spending hours on Indeed but only actually applying to maybe two or three places. I need to step that up clearly.

Day one of trying to track everything properly and I already realize I hadn't been keeping good records for my first two weeks. Is there any way to reconstruct what I applied to from my email history?

Email history is actually a great way to piece it together - confirmation emails from applications, any replies from employers, that kind of thing. Use what you can find and be thorough going forward.

WorkInTexas.com also keeps a record of applications you submit through it, which is handy because those automatically count as work search activities.

I did register on WorkInTexas.com when I first filed but I haven't really used it since then. Going to start doing more of my applications through there.

My second payment request period I started doing half my applications through WorkInTexas.com and it made the logging so much easier. The records are right there if TWC ever asks.

Heads up that WorkInTexas.com and UBS use the same login which some people find confusing at first. If you set up one you're already set up for the other.

Oh that's actually really helpful. I've been stressing about whether I need to spread them out or do them on specific days. Sounds like the Sunday to Saturday window is all that matters.

My third week I did all five of mine on a Saturday afternoon. Felt chaotic but it counted fine. Would not recommend waiting that long every week though lol.

wait the week is sunday to saturday?? i thought it started monday. been doing mine wrong this whole time

That's honestly the scariest part of all this. I want to make sure I'm doing it right because I cannot afford an overpayment notice or worse.

Beginning of my fourth week I had a family emergency and missed two of my five required activities. I called TWC and explained and they noted it on my account. Not sure how it'll affect my payment but I reported it honestly.

Reporting honestly like that is the right call every time. What TWC does with it is their decision but you don't want misreported weeks on your record.

Had a similar situation earlier in my claim. The agent I reached said to document everything and be upfront on the payment request form - that's your best protection.

I did not know that at all. I was thinking of the two-week period as one block. So I need to hit my number separately in each of the two weeks. Got it.

Payment request week three for me and I just realized I need to track by week not by the two-week certification period. Good catch.

Each week stands alone. This trips up a lot of people on their first few payment requests.

This is exactly the kind of thing I would have messed up without being warned. I'm going to treat every week as if my claim is already approved and keep doing everything required.

Two months of adjudication on my last claim and I kept everything going the whole time. When it finally cleared I got back payments for all the weeks I had properly completed.

The adjudication wait is brutal but stopping your work search or missing payment requests during it is how people lose out on weeks they would otherwise have gotten paid for.

Applying directly through a company's own website absolutely counts. WorkInTexas.com is one avenue but it's not the only one. Any genuine application to a real employer counts - just make sure you're logging the employer name, the position, the date, and how you applied.

That's a relief. I have probably forty or fifty applications logged from company career pages over the past few weeks. Glad those count.

Same goes for LinkedIn applications, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, any real job platform. What doesn't count is just viewing a listing without applying or doing a search with no actual activity attached to it.

This thread has made it very clear that the letter is the authority, not anything else. Everyone seems to have a different number and they're all correct for their own county.

My first claim years ago I was in a county that required two a week. Moved to Dallas area and my next claim was five. Same state, totally different requirement.

The range is one to five with five being the max. So anyone telling you it has to be a specific number everywhere in Texas is working off their own county's rules.

I hadn't heard about Commission-Approved Training as an option. Something to keep in mind if the job search drags on.

Beginning of my search I looked into that too. It's a real option but you have to get the specific approval from TWC before you stop doing your activities - you can't just enroll in any class and assume it counts.

Exactly right. The approval has to come through TWC first. Don't assume any training waives the requirement without getting that confirmed.

So casual networking doesn't count but intentional job-seeking networking does. That distinction makes sense. I'll be more intentional about how I document any networking I do.

i never thought networking counted at all honestly. that opens up some more options for me since i know a lot of people in my industry

It's a valid activity when done right. Just keep the documentation as specific as you would for any other application.

That's something I hadn't thought about at all. I'm only two weeks in so the ninety percent threshold still applies. Good to know it adjusts over time though.

This matters more than people realize. If a suitable job comes up that meets the wage threshold and you turn it down without good reason, that can affect your eligibility. Work search isn't just going through the motions.

My fourth month of searching I started applying to things I never would have considered at the start. The reality of a longer unemployment period changes your perspective on what's acceptable.

The WorkInTexas.com flag thing is a new worry for me now. I'll double check my registration to make sure everything looks right on that side.

Day after reading this I checked my WorkInTexas.com profile and there was actually a step I hadn't completed. Good catch. Going to finish it today.

Eighth week of my claim I had a weird hold that turned out to be a registration issue too. Definitely worth checking if anything looks off with your payments.

I definitely needed to hear this stated this plainly. I was counting my browsing time as effort but it's not an activity in TWC's eyes unless I actually do something.

Three weeks of my first claim I thought reviewing job listings was enough. Got a letter asking for my work search log and had almost nothing to show. That was a stressful week.

This is the number one mistake I see people make. Activity means you did something, not that you looked at something.

Reapplying to a position that's genuinely been reposted counts as a new application. If you're applying again to the exact same active listing you already applied to and nothing has changed, that's a gray area - you'd want each activity to represent a real, genuine attempt at employment. When in doubt, apply to something new.

ok that makes sense. the posting definitely got reposted with a new date so i think im fine

Keep the documentation either way. If the posting date is different that supports it being a new application.

An audit sounds terrifying but it sounds like having a thorough log is really the whole answer. I'm going to be very detailed going forward.

Beginning of my claim someone told me the audit never actually happens to most people. Maybe true but that's not a risk worth taking. The log takes five minutes a week if you do it as you go.

The five minutes as you go approach is exactly right. Trying to remember everything at the end of a two-week period is how people end up with gaps.

The order of operations matters. Do the activities, then certify when the payment request period opens. Good clarification.

My first payment request I was so confused about which came first. The mailed instructions help but they could definitely be clearer about the sequence.

Payment request two for me I finally got the rhythm of it. Do the work search throughout the two weeks, submit the request on the right days, certify accurately. It becomes second nature.

This is probably the most important thing in this whole thread for me personally. Keep doing everything even when it feels like nothing is moving on TWC's end. I'll stay the course.

My adjudication dragged on for over a month and I kept every work search log and every payment request going the whole time. When it finally cleared all those weeks were there waiting.

The people who lose weeks they should have gotten paid for are almost always the ones who stopped one of these things thinking it didn't matter yet. It always matters from week one.

Reached out to TWC using claimyr.com during my appeal just to confirm my payment requests were being received properly even with the appeal active. The agent confirmed everything was logging correctly. Worth a quick check if you're uncertain.