Career Guide Tips

Expand Your Job-Hunting Targets - If looking in one geographic area, look in others. If searching in one size of company, try others. If looking at one type of position, consider other types of positions you can do.

Expect to Be “In Search” for the Long Haul - The average professional or managerial worker takes nine months to get a job. While you may find a position right away, have a financial backup plan. Determine ways to take side work to make money for the short term and/or reduce expenses. Build relationships with those who may not have a job for you now, (but could in the future), so they get to know you better.

Keep Your Spirits Up - Be aware that what you are going through is not easy and that many of the things you are experiencing are being experienced by others. Look to get a fresh start in terms of your search and focus.

Think About Developing New Skills - The several months that you probably will be searching is long enough for you to develop new skills. Take a course. Do volunteer work to gain expertise that you can then market. Join an association related to your new skill area.

Become a Skilled Job Hunter - Good job hunters know what they want, what the market wants and how to present themselves. Stay competitive. Learn how to job hunt like an expert.

Look for Opportunities - Put out feelers to find out whether you are marketable outside your company. When on an interview, try to negotiate a job that suits both you and the hiring manager. Don’t passively expect to be told where you will fit in. Actively think about your place in their organization. Create a job for yourself.

Target What You Want - Be sure to select specific geographic areas, specific industries and specific positions within those industries. If you target you have a better chance of finding the job you want.

Learn How to Get Interviews - Don’t focus on getting a job. Focus on getting interviews. There are 4 techniques to generate interviews. Answering ads and using search firms are two of them but they account for only 10% of all jobs filled. The remaining 90% are found through networking and contacting companies directly.

See People Two Levels Higher Than You Are - In the initial stages of exploring you will contact people at your level to find out about an area and how your skills match up. After you have decided to conduct a full scale campaign, you need to contact people who are at a higher level than you. They are the ones in a position to hire you or recommend you for hire.

Work at Your Job Hunt the Same Way You Would Work at a Job - Plan your job-hunting campaign. It’s only when you are devoting a certain number of hours a week to your search (35 if unemployed, 15 if employed), that you can get some momentum built up.

Follow-Up, Follow-Up, Follow-Up - After you meet someone who has no job for you, keep in touch with that person by letting him know how your search is going. After a job interview, consider what they liked about you and what they did not and how you could influence their hiring decision. Follow-up is the main opportunity you have to turn a job interview into a job offer.

By Tony Calabrese