How to upload job search log for Washington ESD unemployment - system keeps rejecting my file

I tried CSV but it still wouldn't work. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the columns?

Make sure your columns match exactly what they're looking for - employer name, position applied for, date of contact, method of contact. The headers have to be exact.

That's what I'm afraid I'll have to do. I have like 15 job contacts from last week alone.

15 job contacts in one week? You only need 3 for Washington ESD requirements, you're doing way more than necessary

That's really helpful, thank you! How long did it take to get connected to someone?

Way faster than trying to call directly. I think it was maybe 20 minutes total instead of the hours I'd been spending on hold.

Never heard of that service before but anything is better than sitting on hold for 3 hours like I did yesterday

I'm definitely keeping track of everything, I just want to get it uploaded properly instead of typing it all in manually every week.

I understand the frustration. The manual entry is tedious but it's the most reliable way right now until they fix the upload issues.

You can do either - upload a file with all your job search activities or enter them manually in the system. Both count the same way.

Oh okay, I didn't even know the upload option existed. I've been doing manual entry this whole time.

Manual entry is probably more reliable anyway based on what everyone's saying about the upload problems

It's to ensure people are actively seeking employment and not just collecting benefits. Washington ESD has to verify that claimants are meeting the work search requirements.

I get why they do it, just saying it's annoying to have to prove it every week

All my applications are legitimate, I'm just applying to a lot of places because the job market is competitive in my field.

That's good then. Just wanted to make sure you weren't padding your numbers with irrelevant applications.

What exactly are the four required columns? I might have extra stuff in my spreadsheet that's causing problems.

Employer Name, Position Applied For, Date of Contact, Contact Method. That's it. No extra columns or fancy formatting.

I'll try creating a clean version with just those columns and see if that works better.

I had similar issues until I realized the date format matters too. Make sure you're using MM/DD/YYYY format for the Date of Contact column - I was using DD/MM/YYYY and it kept rejecting my file even though everything else looked right.

Same here! I thought it was just my internet connection but apparently it's a widespread problem.

Yeah it's definitely on their end. The whole system needs an overhaul.

That's great news! Do you know when the next update is supposed to happen?

She didn't give me an exact date but said it should be within the next few weeks.

That's actually a really good tip, I didn't think about copying and pasting to speed things up.

Yeah it cuts down the time significantly, especially if you're applying to big companies with multiple openings.

My file is pretty small though, just a basic spreadsheet with maybe 20 rows of data.

Size might not be the issue then. Could be the file encoding or special characters in your data causing problems.

There's no official limit as far as I know. As long as they're legitimate job search activities, more is generally better than less.

Okay good, I was worried that too many might look suspicious somehow.

Awesome! I'm definitely going to try that if I can't get the upload working soon.

yeah definitely worth it, way better than trying to call directly

That's not as bad as I thought it would be. I was imagining it would take like an hour every week.

Nah, it's pretty quick if you have all your info organized beforehand.

Good point, I already have everything in my own spreadsheet so I should be covered.

Perfect, that way you're protected if anything goes wrong with their system.

I believe it's 3 activities per week statewide for regular unemployment benefits. Your friend might be thinking of a different requirement or have special circumstances.

Maybe she's on a different type of claim or something. I'll have to ask her about that.

I've been using Chrome, maybe I should try a different browser. Worth a shot I guess.

Yeah, older government systems sometimes have compatibility issues with newer browsers.

Glad it worked out for you! That's exactly the kind of help I got when I used their service.

Thanks for the update! I'm going to stick with manual entry for now and maybe try the upload feature again once they fix it.

Sounds like a good plan. The rep said they're hoping to have the upload issues resolved soon.