Getting Started With Your Job Search Supplemental Hand-Out How Do You Find The Jobs? Four Keys to a Successful Job Search Additional details for the four (4) keys to a successful job search slide. Your Job Search Is A Full-Time Job Establish a routine o Get up, get ready, go to work o Develop a weekly schedule Create a workplace o Home Office / Library / Job Center Commit yourself to a plan o Plan your work and work your plan o Develop a personal strategic plan Find support ‘buddies’ o Set goals and objectives o Meet regularly Maintain Focus Assess yourself and your opportunities o What skills and experiences do I have? o Where are the job opportunities? o What skills and experiences do I need? Define professional objectives o Same career / industry path o Different Path - current skills applicable o Different Path - need to acquire new skills Identify target industries, location(s), company Get Organized Create communications tools o List your Key Skills - accomplishments, strengths, values o Develop your 30-60 second “Me” /elevator speech for different settings - o social, informational, interview, elevator o Create a master resume - cut and paste to match job requirement to your skills 1 | P a g e
o Polish your professional image - business cards, e-mail address, websites, LinkedIn, Facebook o Develop your follow-up plan - thank you and follow-up letters o Regular (ping) communication Develop organizational tools o Contact database - tracking calls and callback o Filing system - company information, job openings, leads, job requests submitted o Plan your time o Develop a weekly schedule and track progress - search, follow-up, leads, networking o Take care of yourself - family, friends, fitness, food and fun Stay Motivated Work the plan you developed o Build your Network - meet people o Find job openings - remember 100 resumes / 10 interviews / 1 job o Hone your skills as necessary - continuing education, certification o Keep Busy - have lunch, coffee, walk with a buddy o Reward yourself How Do You Find The Jobs? Consider all the following ways to locate jobs during your search. 1. Networking: Tell everyone you know you’re looking for work. Ask about job openings where your friends work. 2. Employers: Contact employers directly to market your job talents. Talk to the people who control hiring even if there are no current job openings. 3. EDD / Career Center: At these centers you have access to the latest job announcements, job applications, training information and many other resources. 4. Government: (such as federal, state and local agencies) Personnel offices will list a wide range of job opportunities. Check the internet for listings. 5. Local Public Libraries: Find books on occupations and often post local jobs. 6. Newspaper: Classified help wanted ads. Also scan news sections for job information. (ie: business news about company expansions). 7. Yellow Pages: Utilizing the hidden job market approach is very successful. The phone book is a great place to start. 8. Temporary Agency: These are businesses that match employers and applicants. Use ones that do not charge a fee. 2 | P a g e
9. Community Colleges and Trade Schools: Usually offer counseling and job information to students and the general public. 10. Community Organizations: Such as clubs, associations, women and minority organizations, and youth centers. 11. Churches: Frequently operate employment services or provide job search help. 12. Veterans’ Placement Services: Operate through state employment offices. Veterans’ social and help organizations have job listings. 13. Unions and Apprenticeship Programs: Provide job opportunities and information. Contact your state apprentice council or labor union directly. 14. Chamber of Commerce: Visit local chambers to check their directory of employers. Contact those employers directly. 15. Business Journals, Newsletters for Professional or Trade Associations: Often advertise job openings in their field. Ask for these at the local library. 16. Internet Websites: A great way to reach numerous employers and get a lot of information about companies and positions. 17. Part-time Work/Volunteer Work: Job experience and personal contacts. A chance to try out different jobs. 18. Recorded Job Announcements: You can get a list of phone numbers from your local one- stop career center. How Do You Find The Jobs? Job Search Priorities Q. My husband has been out of work for six months. While he has had a few interviews, none have resulted in job offers. My question is concerning his sending out resume after resume with no response. Should he be looking to work with more headhunters, although they have been of little help in his search, or perhaps there is some other resource he is unaware of? His efforts are great in trying to obtain a job. It just seems fruitless to continually apply blindly to jobs he finds on the internet. Can you advise? A. Looking for a job can be a time consuming, frustrating process filled with dead ends and activity that seems to have no pay off. He is generating interviews, which is a good sign. Having support while trying to find the right opportunity can make this often ego-damaging situation less stressful, and letting your husband know you think his efforts are great is a good start. 3 | P a g e
What many job seekers don't realize is that they have a new career - and that career is sales. Until you are a successful sales person, selling yourself into a job, you don't get to go back to your previous field, or your new target job. Successful sales people will tell you that being effective means doing the right activities, the right number of times. The job search is very similar. In general, there are 4 ways to get a job. Some are much more effective than others, and they are the methods that are more challenging. Let's say you have 30 hours a week to conduct a job search. Plan on dividing your time so that you focus on high impact activity most, and low impact activity least. Surprisingly, most job seekers do not. Method 1. Most career and employment professionals will tell you that 60 to 70 percent of job seekers find their jobs through networking. People hear this yet, most job seekers do not dedicate the time it takes to develop a really effective network. Experience has shown me that a successful job search at the manager/director level takes about 140 face-to-face networking meetings. You might think that there is no way you can meet this many people. You have more tools now to make this work than ever before. LinkedIn can help you network; college alumni associations, former colleagues; golf buddies; your spin class pals, your hairdresser; your kid’s teacher.....you get it. You might be able to make these meetings happen in 4 or 5 months, or 6 or 8 months or longer. Your goal is up to you. But if 60 percent of people get their jobs this way, this is where you want to spend your time. Learn how to network well, develop the skills; provide your contacts with a list of your target companies, and follow up regularly. Method 2. Your next activity is focused on placement firms. Based on your level, you might try to work with retained firms, or contingency firms. Remember that these firms work for the company to find the right person - they do not work for you to find you a job. You are encouraging your husband to work with search firms, and he should try to do that, however in this economy, placement firms are struggling with very few jobs to fill. They are typically highly specialized roles, and not positions for career changers, or people who do not fit the exact specifications outlined by the company. Develop a robust LinkedIn profile, and use it. Search firms use this tool and others to find people. Find the right firms for your function or industry, make sure they have your resume, and move on. If they can make a match, they will. In good times, about 15 to 20 percent of job seekers get their jobs through placement agencies. 4 | P a g e
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