myjobcontacts › States › Maryland

How many job searches do you need for unemployment in Maryland?

What counts as a work search in Maryland

• Direct job contact: sending a job application to an employer (in person, email, online, or fax)
• Direct job contact: an in-person visit to a possible employer, or a call or email to one
• Direct job contact: going to a job interview
• Setting up a virtual recruiter or doing a job search in the Maryland Workforce Exchange or on sites like Indeed or LinkedIn
• Creating or uploading your resume in the Maryland Workforce Exchange
• A skills self-assessment or labor market research
• Job fairs, recruitment events, and networking events
• Job-related workshops, including American Job Center workshops and RESEA
• A one-on-one meeting with American Job Center staff
• Registering with a private employment agency or a school or college placement office
• Interview preparation or a mock interview

More on this in what counts as a work search contact.

How to report your job contacts

Each week, enter your job contacts and activities in the Job Contact and Reemployment Activity Log in the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE). Then file your weekly certification in BEACON, where those entries show up automatically for you to confirm. If you did an activity outside MWE, enter it by hand and upload proof.

When: File your weekly certification for the week that just ended, any time from Sunday 12:01 a.m. to Saturday 11:59 p.m. of the following week. Do your job search entries in MWE first.

Where: Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON).

When the search starts: Each week you file a weekly certification, including while you are still waiting to be paid.

Keep a work search log

Maryland says to keep a detailed record of your job contacts and activities each week, and urges you to use the MWE log, which keeps a permanent record you can download. It does not say how long to keep your own records. DUI’s form is the Job Contact and Reemployment Activity Log (in the Maryland Workforce Exchange). It asks for: employer name and address, means of contact, name and title of person contacted, email or phone of person contacted, job title, field of work or occupation, your level of interest.

The free myjobcontacts app keeps the same details and prints them in the same columns as DUI’s form. Prefer paper? Use the free printable work search log.

Who doesn’t have to search

• You are on a temporary layoff of 10 weeks or less with a definite return-to-work date
• You are on a temporary layoff of 11 to 26 weeks with a definite return date, if your employer and you jointly ask and the Labor Secretary approves
• You are a union member in good standing who can only get work through your union hiring hall
• You are in training approved by the Division of Unemployment Insurance, or WIOA training approved by the Maryland Department of Labor
• Your employer is in an approved Work Sharing plan
• Days you are called for jury duty or serve as an election judge

Union members: If you are a union member in good standing and may only get work through your union hiring hall, you may be exempt from the job search.

See work search exemptions for how these work in other states.

Reviews, audits and RESEA

The Division of Unemployment Insurance audits claims, including checking your job contacts and activities. Staff may contact you for more information.

RESEA: The state may pick you for a required Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) workshop. You may get notice by mail, MWE inbox, phone, or text. If you cannot make it, tell American Job Center staff at least 24 hours before. RESEA counts as a job search activity.

What to expect: unemployment work search audits.

If you miss your number

If you do not meet the job search rule, your payment for that week may be delayed or denied. If you were paid for a week where you did not meet it, you must repay those benefits. Not doing tasks assigned in your MWE inbox can also delay or deny benefits.

Sign up with the job bank

Register in the Maryland Workforce Exchange (one time), create or upload a resume, and set it so employers can see it. Keep the resume up to date while you collect. Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE).

Questions people in Maryland ask

How many job searches are required for unemployment in Maryland?

You must do at least 3 job search activities each week, and at least 1 of them must be a direct job contact with an employer, like sending an application or going to an interview. You record them in the Maryland Workforce Exchange before you file your weekly certification.

What counts as a work search in Maryland?

Direct job contact: sending a job application to an employer (in person, email, online, or fax); Direct job contact: an in-person visit to a possible employer, or a call or email to one; Direct job contact: going to a job interview; Setting up a virtual recruiter or doing a job search in the Maryland Workforce Exchange or on sites like Indeed or LinkedIn, and 7 more on the list above. Check your notice for anything your state added for you.

Do I have to keep a work search log in Maryland?

Each week, enter your job contacts and activities in the Job Contact and Reemployment Activity Log in the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE). Then file your weekly certification in BEACON, where those entries show up automatically for you to confirm. If you did an activity outside MWE, enter it by hand and upload proof. Maryland says to keep a detailed record of your job contacts and activities each week, and urges you to use the MWE log, which keeps a permanent record you can download. It does not say how long to keep your own records.

What happens if I don’t do enough job searches in Maryland?

If you do not meet the job search rule, your payment for that week may be delayed or denied. If you were paid for a week where you did not meet it, you must repay those benefits. Not doing tasks assigned in your MWE inbox can also delay or deny benefits.

Who doesn’t have to look for work in Maryland?

You are on a temporary layoff of 10 weeks or less with a definite return-to-work date. You are on a temporary layoff of 11 to 26 weeks with a definite return date, if your employer and you jointly ask and the Labor Secretary approves. You are a union member in good standing who can only get work through your union hiring hall. Your notice will say if this applies to you.

Does Maryland check or audit work search records?

The Division of Unemployment Insurance audits claims, including checking your job contacts and activities. Staff may contact you for more information.

Checked against DUI’s own pages and rules on November 6, 2026. We could not confirm how long to keep your records, the same-employer rule on an official page, so check your notice for those.

Sources

• Knowing Your Job Search Requirements - Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance
• Completing Your Weekly Certification - Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance
• Unemployment Insurance in Maryland - A Guide to Reemployment
• List of Maryland's Valid Reemployment Activities flyer
• BEACON Claimant User Guide (03.16.26)

Work search rules in every state

myjobcontacts is not a government website and this is not legal advice. Rules change, and your own claim notice or letter is what counts. If something here doesn’t match what your state told you, follow your state.