4 Steps to Your Job Search Plan

So, you're out of work, expect to be unemployed soon, or want to change jobs. What is your plan? In order to effectively move forward and find the right position for your interests and set of skills you need to have a job search plan.

Below are four steps to an effective job search plan:

1. Be specific. What position are you interested in pursuing, and in what industry? One key to your job search is to be as specific as possible about the job you want so you don't waste time, energy, and resources pursuing jobs that don't fit your skill set.

2. Clarify your offer. What is it, exactly, that you bring to the table? What are the range of skills you have that can make you successful in this job? Having a clear understanding of what you can bring to a job will enable you to clearly communicate this in your resume and when speaking with potential employers.

3. Find the right place(s). Where do you want to work? What are you looking for a place of employment? Decide if a startup works for you, or if you prefer a large established corporation. Maybe you'd like to work for a smaller, more intimate family-run business? Being clear about this will again help you be more specific in your search. And also think about location. Are you interested in leaving your city or state?

4. Find the right people. You likely know some people who can aid you in your job search. Or you know someone who knows someone who can assist you. Be sure to reach out to your network. But be choosy. Not everyone can help you. Select those individuals with a connection to the specific job and industry you are pursuing.

Searching for a new job can be stressful but implement these four steps to be more effective in your job search.

Are You Making One of These 3 Critical Job Search Errors?

You have a great resume, you have purchased the perfect interview suit, and you have practiced all your interview responses. You are ready and your job search is foolproof, right? Not so fast! If you are making one of these three errors, you just may be sabotaging your own success.

Failure to Add Networking to Your Job Search
You already know that your applications are all made online - usually through a company's website or an online job search engine. However, if your only means of looking for open jobs is surfing the web for openings, you are missing out.

I spoke recently to a global recruiter that told me 80% of the positions she fills are never even posted. She searches LinkedIn, asks her existing staff for referrals, and reaches out to her network to find candidates before she even considers posting a job. Don't discount networking - both social networking and in-person networking - as a critical factor in your job search success.

Failure to Use a Cover Letter
The cover letter is a professional introduction to the resume and is still expected by hiring managers and human resources professionals. The cover letter will most likely not make or break whether you get an interview. However, not sending a cover letter is definitely a strike against you.

Human Resources may not read the cover letter during the screening process. However, they will pass your letter along to the hiring manager who uses this tool to get to know a little about you, your personality, and communication style before the interview.

Failure to Focus Your Search
There is no such thing as an effective generic resume. In order to do its job well, the resume must be focused to a specific job, industry, and company. Don't make the HR person work to see how you will fit in their company. Chances are, if you don't make your targeted presentation of how you fit in within the top third of the resume, you will never even get close to an interview.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. This is What I Learned from 3 of Silicon Valley's Giants
"Most of us walk around with an artificial glass ceiling on what we can accomplish.  We find 100 reasons why an idea won’t work.  This holds us back from reaching our true potential."

2. Networking Tips to Help You Land Your First Job
"I think people misjudge Twitter as a career and networking tool. It is a phenomenal research tool for following companies, people and industries that interest you and learning what they want you to know about them."

3. When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters
"Some organizations will excite you. They'll stimulate your success and growth. Others will be stressful. They may lead you to quit before you've accomplished much or learned what you hoped to."

4.  Does "Ready, Fire!, Aim" Describe Your Job Search Approach?  
"So, then, what’s the answer to effectively competing in today’s job market? It is to have a good, well-thought-out action plan, and then to effectively implement that plan."

5. Why People Stay Mired in Their Careers
"Here are five reasons people stay stuck in their careers and what you must avoid to find satisfaction and success in yours."

The Importance of Focus in a Job Search

I spent most of my day today at a career fair for veteran's, transitioning military members, and their family members. I looked at more than 40 resumes today and talked to many job seekers. In more than half of these conversations, when I asked them to name their career focus, they either said they were looking for anything or they named three or four different career fields that had nothing to do with each other.

I spent much of my day explaining the importance of focus in the job search, so I decided to repeat myself, one more time, here on my blog. As I explained again and again today, the job search and resume writing process is like strategic marketing. These are the three stages of strategic marketing as they relate to your potential employer being the "customer" in the job search process.

First - Identify your Customer
In order to create a compelling marketing statement, you must first clearly define your customer. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as an effective, generic resume. When we try to appeal to everyone at once with our resume, we end up appealing to no one. Clearly define your target industry and profession before you even begin writing your resume and launching your job search.

Second - Identify your Customer's Needs and Wants
In order to create a targeted marketing approach with your resume and interview answers, you have to know what your customer wants to hear. Once you know your target, you can define key words, skills, and qualifications that must be in your resume and discussed in the interview. You can also focus on the accomplishments in your past experience that will demonstrate the type of results that will appeal to your target industry.

Third - Define What you Can Do to Meet your Customer's Needs
This is the step where you define your transferable skills. Those all-important marketable skills and accomplishments that show you can add value to your potential employer's organization. In this step you think about how you will be cost-effective as an employee and the benefits your employer will receive from adding you to the team. Once again, these are determined by the specific needs, wants, and interests of the potential employer.

So you see, it is nearly impossible to complete step 2 and step 3 without successfully accomplishing that first critical step of defining your customer or your target job. Have you ever tried to aim for a target or walk in a straight line with your eyes closed? It is nearly impossible to be successful. It is just as difficult to be successful in the job search without a clearly defined goal in mind.