I spend way too much time reading blogs and articles on the job search, and recently I’ve spent way too much time writing some of that content myself.
And everything seems to assume that you just jump right in and off you go.
You don’t, so don’t. Pour the foundations before you move ahead. If a job search is nothing more than a marketing exercise then remember the two components, what you say and who you say it to.
Let’s look at what you say as the precursor to actually getting the message out there to an audience.
Your resume
This one’s obvious isn’t it? It’s not, you wouldn’t believe the number of people who are continuously tweaking a resume for no apparent reason. Or maybe you’re one of them. If you’re not tweaking a resume to repost to a job board like dice or Monster or for a specific job then leave it alone once it’s written. Remember, imperfect action is good and preferred.
I have a slew of resources on what needs to be in the resume, as does the whole interweb in fact so we won’t dwell on it here but make sure that it’s achievement oriented and to the point.
Your LinkedIn profile
I wrote an article on some things to do to optimize your Linkedin profile, heed the advice and act on it. It will not only help you to get found but it will also engage your audience when they get to your profile.
And rest assured that at some point, they will get to your profile. Whether we start looking on LinkedIn or somewhere else, we always end up at your LinkedIn profile. Don’t make me regret what I read!
If you’re stumbling about with how to optimize your profile DO NOT pay somebody $1500 or whatever to help you, I’ve spoken to a few people in our job seekers networking group and for the most part these people who help you to optimize your profile are charlatans.
If you’re an executive level job seeker, drop me a note, I can help. And if you ever find yourself in my neighbourhood all it will cost you is a beer. I like beer.
A plan
Formalize some daily, weekly and maybe even monthly goals on what you want to achieve. Forget “getting a job”, that’s not a goal that you can control, focus on what you need to do.
In our executive job seekers group we have spent quite a bit of time on formalizing some goals.
Here are some ideas, it’s by no means an exhaustive list but can be a good start. Again, if you need more ideas, reach out to me and I can send you a couple of plans to use or adapt for your needs.
- Apply to X number of job postings weekly/daily.
- Post to Linkedin
- Like Y articles on LinkedIn daily
- Share Z articles on LinkedIn.
- Virtual cups of coffee
- New, meaningful connections on LinkedIn
Try and get these three areas organized before you start firing out resumes blindly and if you’ve already started firing out resumes blindly, just hit the pause button and make sure you’re happy with what you’re saying to the world.
