Short answer. Pick your state and a day, and this builds a one-week work search log with the columns your state's unemployment agency says to record, enough rows for its weekly number, and its reporting and record-keeping instructions printed underneath. Print it or download it as a spreadsheet.
Build your weekly log
Choose a state and a day to build the log.
Filling it in
Write each contact the day you make it. Copy the employer's address or the exact web page you applied on, and keep the confirmation email or a screenshot in a folder for the same week. If a state lists a job reference number or the person's title, those are the details auditors ask about later and are hard to find again.
If your state wants activities entered online when you certify, the paper log is your backup and your notes for that entry, not a substitute for it.
States with their own forms
Several agencies publish an optional log. The builder doesn't replace it; use whichever your state asks for:
- Alaska: Work search log
- Connecticut: Work Search Record (UI-230)
- Delaware: Work Search Log (UI Claimant Handbook)
- Georgia: Weekly Work Search Activities Record (DOL-2798)
- Indiana: Work Search Activity Log
- Massachusetts: Work search log
- Michigan: Work Search Activity Worksheet (UIA 6507)
- Nevada: Work Search Record (NUCS-4482)
- New Jersey: Work search worksheet
- New York: Work Search Record (WS5)
- Rhode Island: Work Search Activity Log
- South Dakota: Job Search Tracking Sheet (Employer Contacts Form), optional
- Texas: TWC work search log
- Washington: ESD job search log
- Wisconsin: Sample work search log (UCB-12-E)
New Jersey has a full guide to its work search log: New Jersey work search log and job hunt records. New Jersey job seekers can also use the Job Search and Work Search Log Kit.
General information checked against each state's unemployment agency pages (see the table for dates). It's an organizer, not legal or benefits advice: the state agency decides whether your search meets its rules, and your own notices from it come first. MCC Solutions isn't affiliated with any state agency. The log builder runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent or saved.
Common questions
What columns should a work search log have?
The ones your state asks for. 31 of the 49 states in our data list what to record, and the builder uses that list. Where a state doesn't, it prints general columns: date, activity, employer, address or website, how you made contact, and result.
Can I use my own log instead of the state's form?
Many states offer an optional form and accept your own record if it has the same information. A few want activities entered in their own system, such as Maryland's Workforce Exchange or Iowa's IowaWORKS. Check your state's row in the table and your notice.
Is anything I type here sent anywhere?
No. The log is built in your browser. Your name and claim number stay on the page and disappear when you close it; the download is made on your device.
Which week does the log cover?
Sunday through Saturday around the day you pick. Most states that say so count the benefit week that way (Iowa, Michigan and Utah do), but check how your state counts it.
Does printing a log mean I've met the requirement?
No. The log only helps you keep a record. The state agency decides whether your search counts, and some states also want each activity entered online when you certify.
Compare every state: work search requirements by state