RETHINK YOUR JOB SEARCH STRATEGY NOW

What can you change in your strategy today that can help advance your job search in the future? It is a good time to take stock of what is working in your present job search tactics and what is not.

Rethink how you plan your search:

 Few job-seekers have a written job project plan, even those who are certified project planners. Without a project plan, your job search has no guidance, no benchmarks, and no feedbacks to determine if your search in  on plan or facing delays. Components of an effective project plan include a marketing plan, to-do list, tracking opportunity, and beginning to end goal activity planning and tracking.

Rethink how you research:

Few job-seekers spend much time researching employers until just prior to an interview. However, the earlier you research an employer and the more effort you devote to researching, the higher your odds that you will get an interview. In addition, the more information you have about an employer before communicating with them, the higher your chances in being considered as one of the top candidates-even before interview. Look for non-public information, by going beyond websites and financial statements.

RETHINK HOW YOU NETWORK:

Most job-seekers have very short-term goals that limit their job search effectiveness. Information is your greatest currency as a job-seeker and networking gives you the opportunity to gain you the opportunity to gain non-public information for your pre-resume research. Your network can provide you access to company insiders. Your conversations with insiders are most effective when your goal is to discover company’s problems, goals and roadblocks. Just asking about openings or asking to have a resume passed is a terribly wasted opportunity and wastes your contact’s time.

RETHINK HOW YOU USE JOB BOARDS:

Job boards are great for research, but lousy for applying for a job. Job boards signal which companies have the budget to hire and which positions they are hiring – allowing the job-seeker to predict future hiring needs, which other positions, and what problems the company might have. Job boards can be a great tool to identify target companies, research types of positions and typical criteria.

RETHINK HOW YOU APPLY FOR A JOB:

Get ahead of the curve by identifying target companies and concentrating your networking to getting to know hiring managers at those target employers-long before these positions are advertised. By the time a job is listed on a job board, a hiring manager has already developed a list of people they have already met who could do the job. Job boards and recruiters are used as an employer back-up plan.

RETHINK HOW YO COMMUNICATE WITH EMPLOYERS:

Just like individualized marketing is more effective than sending mass e-mails, sending an individualized resume is also much more effective. According to multiple studies, less than 7 percent of candidates customize their resume and most send the same resume to each employer. This suggests that a customized resume strategy is even more effective, because so few of your competition actually do it.