People are currently filling the jobs you may have had in mind. They were smart to plan their job search last summer and got serious about their job search techniques in the fall. They interviewed in November and December and walked into their new offices this January.
Tip #1 – Do not wait:
Make a job search your idea. Job searching takes planning, passion, and persistence. It also takes some practical job search techniques that you can use right now. Do not wait to be downsized or laid off. Do not wait to be passed over for the next promotion or for the first salary increase that meets your real needs. Few things feel better than leaving a job on your own terms.
Tip #2 – Plan ahead:
Unless the job comes looking for you, you need time to clean up and organize your finances, physical/emotional fitness, and work history. You will be keeping a lot of balls in the air, and you need the fortitude to sustain the long job searching fight.
Tip #3 – Focus on target jobs:
Determine what job title, workplace, and income you want to chase. Without a job search target, you will not know when your job searching is over. You will lose control of a universal assault on all markets. It makes more sense to shoot for, say, three specific job descriptions at five preferred employers.
Tip #4 – Put yourself at the center:
Imagine yourself at the bulls-eye of a target; then, run two exercises:
- Label each concentric circle at a distance of 20 miles. If you have been commuting 30 or 50 miles regularly in one direction, identify employers within that same mileage at all points around the target. You may be so focused on jobs north that you miss a job west.
- Label each concentric circle for a community you belong to: immediate family, extended family, church, clubs, and so on. Each community represents a network you can exploit, so you should develop a scheduled discipline to work each network regularly from the center out and back.
Tip #5 – Learn to network:
Become evangelical about your job search, and let people know what you are looking for and how you are right for it. If you cannot sell those you know, you will never sell an interviewer. Networking is not a whimpering plea for help. Make firm approaches to your contacts. Say, “Here’s what I want to do in the next few months. I can see myself as a Project Manager at XYZ. What do you think?” Ask contacts if they know anyone at XYZ or if they will introduce you to someone in their network who may know someone. Include former co-workers and bosses as a network, and seek their info and advice.
While they aren’t what many would term job search techniques, there are some remaining housekeeping issues. You cannot go forward without cleaning up your past on social media where everything you have posted has a life of its own.
At the same time, prepare a current professional resume (or better yet, work with a professional resume writer like Distinctive Career Services). Writing a resume is an important exercise in building self-awareness and self-confidence.
That same process will help you develop a short elevator speech that introduces yourself, your skills, and your ambitions in one short written and spoken message. If you want to know more about how a professional resume could help you, book a free consultation today.
Finally, it never hurts to submit your resume to headhunters who work to match open positions with professionals such as you. They need and value an inventory of qualified candidates.
About the Author: Michelle Dumas
