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

What counts as a work search in Minnesota

• Visiting an employer to fill out a job application
• Sending resumes in response to job ads or job leads
• Calling employers to set up job interviews
• Job seeking classes, workshops, or job clubs
• Meeting with a career counselor and taking skills or interest tests
• Networking in your field
• Searching online job banks and professional or trade publications
• Researching companies in your field and the job market
• Keeping in contact with professional organizations
• Going to a Reemployment Session at a CareerForce location
• Looking for a job through a staffing service

What doesn’t count

• Only looking at jobs that are not actually open
• Only looking at jobs above your training, experience, or qualifications

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

How to report your job contacts

Each week when you request a payment online or by phone, you answer questions about whether you looked for work. You do not type in a list of contacts. Keep your own record of every job contact and activity in case DEED audits your account.

When: Request a payment each week for the week that just ended. Online: Sunday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. By phone: Tuesday or Wednesday on your assigned time (based on the last digit of your Social Security number), or any time Thursday or Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Minnesota Unemployment Insurance online account (ui.mn.gov).

When the search starts: Every week you request a benefit payment, including your first (nonpayable) week.

Keep a work search log

DEED does not set a time to keep your work search record. Audits can look at weeks you requested two or three years ago, and DEED says to keep your address current for at least four years after your last payment request, so keeping your log for at least that long is the safe choice. DEED’s form is the Work Search Record. It asks for: date of contact, name and address of company, phone/fax, name of person contacted, position applied for, method of contact (phone, resume, application, in person), results (not hiring, interview date, decision pending, etc.).

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

Who doesn’t have to search

• You are in full-time training approved by DEED (it takes the place of the work search)
• You are in a union hiring hall that does not let you look for work on your own, and you stay in good standing and on the referral list
• No full exemption for a temporary layoff: DEED says you may look for temporary work until you are called back
• No exemption for seasonal work: in the off season you must look for other kinds of work

Union members: If you belong to a union hiring hall that does not let you look for work on your own, you do not have to search personally. You must stay in good standing with the union and on its work referral list.

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

Reviews, audits and RESEA

Each week DEED picks hundreds of accounts at random for audit. An audit can cover recent weeks or weeks from two or three years ago. An audit specialist will talk with you and check your work search, wages, why your job ended, school, and earnings. If DEED cannot reach you, it decides without your input and you must repay any overpayment. That is why you should keep your log and keep your address up to date for at least four years.

RESEA: You may be scheduled for a Reemployment Session. It is mandatory, and not taking part will result in denial of benefits. You will also be asked to complete a Job Search Self-assessment and Work Search Plan in your account.

What to expect: unemployment work search audits.

If you miss your number

You may not be eligible for benefits for any week you did not actively seek suitable work. If an audit finds you were paid for a week you were not eligible, you must pay it back.

Questions people in Minnesota ask

How many job searches are required for unemployment in Minnesota?

Minnesota does not set a number. You must make a real, serious effort to find suitable work every week you request a payment, the kind of effort a person who truly wants a job would make. Keep a record so you can show what you did if your account is audited.

What counts as a work search in Minnesota?

Visiting an employer to fill out a job application; Sending resumes in response to job ads or job leads; Calling employers to set up job interviews; Job seeking classes, workshops, or job clubs, 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 Minnesota?

Each week when you request a payment online or by phone, you answer questions about whether you looked for work. You do not type in a list of contacts. Keep your own record of every job contact and activity in case DEED audits your account. DEED does not set a time to keep your work search record. Audits can look at weeks you requested two or three years ago, and DEED says to keep your address current for at least four years after your last payment request, so keeping your log for at least that long is the safe choice.

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

You may not be eligible for benefits for any week you did not actively seek suitable work. If an audit finds you were paid for a week you were not eligible, you must pay it back.

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

You are in full-time training approved by DEED (it takes the place of the work search). You are in a union hiring hall that does not let you look for work on your own, and you stay in good standing and on the referral list. No full exemption for a temporary layoff: DEED says you may look for temporary work until you are called back. Your notice will say if this applies to you.

Does Minnesota check or audit work search records?

Each week DEED picks hundreds of accounts at random for audit. An audit can cover recent weeks or weeks from two or three years ago. An audit specialist will talk with you and check your work search, wages, why your job ended, school, and earnings. If DEED cannot reach you, it decides without your input and you must repay any overpayment. That is why you should keep your log and keep your address up to date for at least four years.

Checked against DEED’s own pages and rules on November 6, 2026. We could not confirm how long to keep your records, the exact questions asked when you request payment on an official page, so check your notice for those.

Sources

• Seeking suitable employment - Unemployment Insurance Minnesota
• Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Information Handbook (DEED-22A, Rev. 10/2026)
• Audit of your account - Unemployment Insurance Minnesota
• Eligibility requirements - Unemployment Insurance Minnesota
• Minn. Stat. 268.085 Eligibility requirements
• Work Search Record (DEED)
• DEED video transcript: requesting a benefit payment

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.