Job Hunting Forum

Friday, October 14, 2011

Have a Plan

Just like with most things in life, the better you plan, the better off you’ll be on your path. Looking for a good job is the same in this regard.

In today’s competitive arena most people will never get enough interviews with a hit-or-miss approach. This leaves too much to fate. Think of it this way. Chances are you’re marketing a “product” with millions of dollars of earnings capacity remaining in your career.

That much value deserves your best effort. Besides, job hunting is a numbers game. So, why take a chance at doing a lot of things haphazardly, without a well designed plan? Similar to any company who is about to market a new product, a good plan can cut job hunting time in half and save money. It also helps people produce better results, and when people generate a lot of activity in a concentrated time period, they feel better and do better. Much better.

Recapping the components of your overall marketing plan

Job hunting goals:

We surface all critical information about you and then decide on the goals that will best advance your career.

Liabilities: We identify liability issues that might restrict your success… and arrive at ways for minimizing their impact.

Assets and transferable skills: We pinpoint these and incorporate them into your resume, letters, and your personal website.

Industry alternatives: We will suggest the industry alternatives that we feel are best for you.

Action plan for getting interviews: We will lay out a step-by-step plan… a weekly agenda… that will guide your search. This is your complete track… a game plan. It will include a plan for your approach to interviewing and negotiations.

We all have seen many career fields change dramatically over the last decade. Fields that once offered great opportunity have become financially confining with limited growth possibilities. Does print advertising offer the same career possibilities as it did a decade ago?

Does selling in the steel industry? Does being a doctor and a general practitioner? Career fields change at a much faster pace than most people realize. Experience has proven that if you take a narrow view of yourself, you could be making a mistake. For example, if you see yourself as a specialist (e.g., a banker), you may believe you are locked into a given career. On the other hand, you may feel you have few options because you are too much of a generalist.

The better you plan your search, the better your results. Do your homework and find out what is best for you. What do you really want?

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