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Job Search You’ve decided to look for a new job. Are you ready to embark on a job search part-time? Here is a checklist to get you started. __Job Satisfaction Reflection – before you pack your desk up, you need to make sure you clearly understand why you are leaving. Spend some time soul searching and writing about what you liked and didn’t like about your previous job. Make sure you take responsibility for your role in the misfit so that you do not make the same mistake again. Determine your top 5 career values and post them on your wall so that you’ll review them often during your job search. This will help insure that the new job meets your values. __Mindset – are you mentally prepared for what could be a long process? A rule of thumb is one month per $10K in salary – but that is if you are looking for work full-time. Are you ready for rejection? You will receive rejection letters or no response from employers you’d give your eye tooth to work for. You may have to send out 50-100 applications and have multiple interviews before finding a good fit. Psychological prepare for the process. Uncover and work through any fears that are making you procrastinate. Realize it is a journey of discovery and that you’ll learn a great deal about yourself. __Pitch and Focus – soul searching, determining your interests, passions, blocks to career development and values work will lead to a clear focus of what you want your new job to look like. Can you give a 30-second pitch what you are looking for to someone you meet? For example, “I am looking for a job as a <job title> in the <blank> industry. I have experience as a <blank> and want to develop my career by…” If you are unclear about where you are headed, it will come through in your interactions with others. Experiment by giving your pitch to someone who doesn’t know you well and see if they understand what you want. __Maintain Strong Performance – while on the job hunt, you’ll have to be conscious about performing well at your current job as you don’t want to burn a bridge especially if you are staying in the same industry. The fact that the job is a misfit makes this a tough part of the process but it is far easier to finance a job search when you are employed and employers find the fact that you are working attractive. __Master Resume – this is a resume that contains every possible bit of information to sell you to potential employers. You’ll pare it down and customize with each job application. __Master Cover Letter – this is a long letter with paragraphs explaining all of your key achievements and experience. You’ll pare it down and customize with each job application. __Target Companies – it is important to determine a list of companies you want to watch for job openings and/or contact for an informal interview to see if they have any hidden jobs. Use directories (e.g. Canada’s Top 100 Employers) to find companies that match your values. __Networking Events – have you determined where the networking events are listed for your industry? Many industry associations host networking events. Think out-of-the-box to determine where Hiring Manager’s would be for your industry. For example, if you are looking for work in the automotive industry, go to a car show or race and be friendly with everyone you meet. Let them know that you are looking for work. You’d be amazed at the connections you’ll make – car guys know car guys! __Web sites bookmarked – bookmark the career’s section of target company web sites, industry-specific organizations and job boards, networking event listings, cities, school districts, government job boards and the major job boards (e.g. workopolis). See the links section of the resources page for suggested links. __Schedule – have you set aside 3-4 hours twice a week for your job search? You’ll need to spend at least this amount of time every week to review web sites, apply to jobs, go to networking events or meetings and follow-up meetings and applications. This is one of the biggest challenges for working job searchers. The less time you spend on your search, the longer it will take you to find work. Try to span the two 4 hour sessions days apart so that you won’t miss a posting. Also, you need to have this twice weekly scheduled time so that you can respond quickly to new leads. __Reference List – this can be a challenge as you probably can not use your current employer as a reference. Consider finding a current colleague that could be act as a reference for your current position. Need help to get ready? Call Joni today to talking about a job search coaching program at 604-521-8622.
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