The weekly work search rule in New Hampshire
The agency does not post a set number. You must look for work each week, which includes contacting hiring employers and doing reemployment activities. Your local office may give you a number of contacts to make based on your experience, skills and the job market.
Enter all of your work search contacts for the week when you file your weekly continued claim. Keep a record of them and bring it when you are called to the local office.
File and certify on the New Hampshire Employment Security site. The rules can change, so check NHES's work search page if a letter from them says something different.
| New Hampshire rule | |
|---|---|
| Each week | The agency does not post a set number. You must look for work each week, which includes contacting hiring employers and doing reemployment activities. Your local office may give you a number of contacts to make based on your experience, skills and the job market. |
| How you report it | Enter all of your work search contacts for the week when you file your weekly continued claim. Keep a record of them and bring it when you are called to the local office. |
| Enter each activity online | Yes, each activity goes into the state system |
| Keep records | Keep a daily record of the employers you contact. Bring your work search records to any required meeting at your local office. |
| Agency | New Hampshire Employment Security |
Source: New Hampshire Employment Security (www.nhes.nh.gov), checked 2026-10-20.
What counts as a work search activity in New Hampshire
New Hampshire Employment Security lists these:
- Contacting hiring employers
- Reemployment activities that prepare you to return to work
Who does not have to search for work in New Hampshire
Some claim filers are exempt because of the circumstances of their unemployment. Act as if you must search unless NHES tells you otherwise. An older NHES handbook (2016) names returning to the same employer within 15 calendar days, union contracts that require seeking work only through a union hiring hall, and an offer of new work that starts within two weeks (you must notify NHES).
Keep your work search log free
Write down each activity the day you do it: the date, the employer, how you contacted them, the job, and what happened. If the state asks to see your search, the log is your proof.
The free work search log in Capstone Careers keeps it for you: each application you send through Capstone Careers goes on it by itself, you add the ones you do elsewhere, and you can save the week as a PDF.
Need more applications to reach your number? See openings near you and get a resume written for each one.
Training while you are on unemployment in New Hampshire
If you want to train for a new job, WIOA can pay for approved training if you qualify. See how WIOA works in New Hampshire.
Sources
- New Hampshire Employment Security: work search rules
- New Hampshire Employment Security (www.nhes.nh.gov)
- New Hampshire Employment Security (mm.nh.gov)
- New Hampshire Employment Security (www.nhes.nh.gov)
- New Hampshire Employment Security (www.nhes.nh.gov)
- New Hampshire Employment Security (mm.nh.gov)
- New Hampshire Employment Security (mm.nh.gov)