Are you using a job search checklist?
New Years Resolution: Find a new job
Happy New Year! We hope the last year was a great one for you and we hope to make the New Year great for your career. We have a lot of new features planned for the New Year and are looking forward to hearing about more jobs and promotions landed from our members.
Towards the end of last year, we heard a theme with New Years resolutions.
- “I need to quit my job”
- “Next year, I am going to find a better job”
- “I am going to get serious about my career next year”
Congratulations
If you made a similar resolution, congratulations. You made the decision to level up your career. It takes courage to make a career change and we know first hand it can be intimidating. We are here to help you take your career to the next level and remove the guesswork out of your job search.
If you are thinking about a career change but not sure how to go about it, we can make applying for a new career brain-dead simple for you and remove all the dread.
As career coaches, we hear the above resolutions throughout the year. There is one item that most job seekers don’t think about when they make the decision to change careers. This missing point is the game changer. The one thing that most job seekers are missing is a step-by-step plan for finding that next job.
Post and Pray
Most candidates take their last resume, add their most recent experience and then start hitting up the online job boards. This sounds good in theory but “post and pray” is not a plan. We know this is the least effective way of landing a job interview.
Our formatted resume templates are designed for the speed-reading hiring manager who will review your resume in less than 5 seconds. Of course, our technology will help you format the resume with margins, fonts, and colors so your job experience is presented in a beautiful manner.
Because we have tools designed by hiring managers and recruiters for hiring managers and recruiters, Career Tracker will help you create a beautiful resume.
More importantly, our cover letter templates, reminders, and job search tracker will make sure you are using your resume effectively. Just saying “I am going to look for a new job in the new year” and sending out some emails isn’t enough. The new year is 365 days long. We can go about the search willy-nilly and still be looking in November, or we can be efficient about the search and have offers in ASAP. Career Tracker will make your job search purposeful.
Coaches for any sport
If you are going to learn a new sport you talk with a coach. Are going to learn to play a musical instrument? Then you talk with a teacher. If you want to upsize your career, you should have the most current technology and tools.
When we personally look for a new job, we put together a job search checklist. This way we can stay on plan and keep motivated with small successes along the way. It doesn’t become an “I found a job or I am still looking for a job” search. Looking for a job can be tedious, but it doesn’t have to be when you have an organized checklist.
We attach due dates to the checklist so that the job search doesn’t lose momentum. The right skills and culture fit matter, but a job search is also about confidence. Keeping to a plan will keep your spirits high. A positive attitude will communicate that we believe in ourselves. Hiring managers don’t hire candidates who present themselves in a depressed or desperate manner.
Two things we have seen over and over with the job search:
- Job seekers with a job search checklist will land positions closer to their sweet spot and in a shorter amount of time
- If the job search goes too long, candidates lose faith and it shows during the interviews. The candidate may land a job, but because the job search lost momentum, they settle in salary, title, commute or all three.
Job Search Checklist
Below is a job search checklist that will help you keep organized and focused.
- Create a resume with our Career Tracker Resume Creator
- Update or create your LinkedIn profile with a recent picture.
- Clean up your online social network (no drunk party pictures)
- Network with 2 influencers a week
- Send out 2 thank you emails to influencers we met with
- Research two companies of interest a week. Research could include competitors in the same field, which may result in additional employers or companies to send our resume to.
- Apply to X number of jobs a week via online job boards.
- Send letters of interest to the HR department and VP of the department with potential companies (even when your job of interest is not posted). You can look up these decision makers via LinkedIn.
- Send follow up letters to jobs applied to via job boards and potential companies of interest.
Execs don’t search for a job the way you do
Did you know that VP’s and executives go about searching for a job in a much different manner than non-executive counterparts? Executives go about their job hunt with a job search checklist. Senior candidates attack their job hunt in a methodical fashion because they have been on the other side of the hiring desk. These candidates understand what it takes to be hired and wouldn’t go about a job search without a plan. Execs have extended offers to candidates for open positions and positions not yet created. Managers have hired candidates who have networked and applied to jobs online and they know that their best odds of landing a job are via their network.
Stay tuned for next weeks post where we share the interview questions that you absolutely should prepare for.
Key Takeaway: If VP’s and executives are going using a job search checklist, shouldn’t you as well? Following our job search tools and simple steps will make the biggest difference in your job hunt.
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