FACT: It's nearly impossible
to find a job if you don't know what you want to do.
"What are you looking for?" is the first question you will be asked when you say that you
are job hunting.
If you don't have a good answer, people will
be unable to effectively help you (and they may wonder how seriously
you are looking for a job). You will be wasting your time, and everyone else's time, too, And the result is often a longer job search for you.
Yes, it MAY feel like you are not "keeping all your options open" when you decide what you want to do. Don't worry!
REALITY: You will have a more focused - and a more successful - job search when you know what you want, and you go after it consistently.
Not knowing what you want to do is the NUMBER ONE MISTAKE job seekers make!
Need HELP figuring out what you want to do?
If you need
help figuring out the answer to the "what do you want"
question, the most frequently-used and -recommended book (for
good reason!) is What
Color Is Your Parachute, by Richard Bolles. If your local library has only one career guidance book, this book is probably the one.
The guidance
and self-exploring exercises in this book should provide eye-opening
insights for you, and it is updated every year to keep it current.
Dick Bolles Web site, JobHuntersBible (the nickname frequently used for his book), supplements the material
in his book with material he personally selected - useful articles,
information, and other resources.
Professional career counselors
are also available:
For free through your local state Employment
Offices (in the U.S.) or your school or college, for job seekers who qualify.
To find your state's Employment Office,
check your local telephone book, pick your state from list of Employment Offices by State, or see your state's page in Job-Hunt's Job Sites by State.
We often limit our options by limiting exposure to ideas and things outside of our daily lives and experiences. The absolutely best job for you may be something you've never heard of or never considered. So do some research to expand your options:
America's
Career InfoNet,
from the U.S. Federal Government, offers an excellent collection
of information, including a "General Outlook" for employment
in various industries and locations, an "employability checkup"
for you, links to state employment offices (including maps, hours
of operation, and services provided), Web career resources, and
much more.
The Occupational
Outlook Handbook, from U.S. Federal Government, provides an
amazing amount of useful information on the job market with Career
Guides to Industries as well as Occupations.
See "What Color Is Your Parachute?" author Dick Bolles' JobHuntersBible Website for
helpful articles and links to sites where you can get help identifying
your skills and interests and the kinds of jobs you will probably
do best.
Read Job-Hunt's Finding Jobs Online section to
see all the places you can look for jobs - you have many more
options than just Web job sites.
Use Job-Hunt's Pick Your Employer section to check
out potential employers. You'll find links to articles and research
about employers, employer Web sites, and links to research on
top employers are available.
In Job-Hunt,
each state's page (fine your's in this list of states)
has U.S. Department of Labor job market information for that particular state, usually
including a list of the state's largest employers, occupations
that appear to be growing (lots of opportunity; maybe not too
much competition; probably good pay checks) as well as those that
appear to be declining (fewer opportunities; probably stiff competition
for what jobs there are; probably not-so-great pay checks).
After you understand what you enjoy doing and what you do best, changing your career path may feel like a good idea. Sometimes it's a one-step process where you jump immediately into the new field, but more often it takes time and planning and may require additional training or education.
2. Determine Your Online Reputation
Without being aware, job seekers are often hurt by what is available online about them or even about someone else - a person with the same or a very similar name. You MUST know what is online attached to your name so you can address the issue.
Note:Employers research job seekers 79% of the time before inviting them in for an interview, so a wise job seeker knows what employers will find. Set up a Google Alert for your "official" name (the one on your resume and your LinkedIn Profile), and Google Alerts will help you track what is visible for your name.
How do you determine what is out there about you or someone with the same name? You put Google to work for you by setting up a Google Alert on your name. Google Alerts are free, and extremely useful.
If you discover a problem with your online reputation, you do have options, and the situation can be managed, even if the person involved is someone else who has the same name. Read Job-Hunt's Online Reputation Management article for help.
3. Get
Support for Your Job Search
More "heads"
are definitely better than one - the old cliché is absolutely
true, so don't do your job search in isolation.
Benefits:
A solitary job
search can be demoralizing.
A solitary job search can also be more difficult
because you'll only have access to what you find by yourself.
Leverage the experience, expertise, and network of friends and
colleagues, and don't forget to help others, too. You will all be more successful.
Friends, outplacement
counselors, your school or college's career center or placement
office, members of your church (or temple or where ever you practice
your religion), former co-workers, your local government, your
federal government, one of the independent job hunt support groups,
career counselors, and/or a job search coach can help you enormously.
They will help you find resources and contacts, keep your spirits
up, give you ideas, help you explore you options, and give you
a boot in the pants when you need one.
If you are looking for
a job in the U.S., check out the Job-Hunt's Job
Search Networking (by state).
Or start your
own group. Borrow or buy a copy of Barbara Sher's wonderful Wishcraft book. Used copies of Wishcraft are available from Amazon,
or get a free version in PDF format from Wishcraft.com.
To stay in touch and share resources, set up your own group on Google Groups or Yahoo
Groups (it's free, but be sure to read their current privacy
policies).
4. Collect
Information
Identify the
jobs, employers, and locations that interest you, and then find
out what you can about them. The Web is a treasure trove of useful
information (just be cautious about believing everything you read!).
Job-Hunt's Pick Your Next Employer section has links to how-to articles, directories of employer
Web sites, lists of employers, and more to help you identify potential
employer.
Read the "Know
BEFORE You Go (or Apply)" series of articles by Job-Hunt's
Research Expert Parmelee Eastman about choosing the best potential employers, gathering information to prepare an attention-getting
cover letter, and impressing interviewers with your knowledge of
them and their organization.
5. Pull Together
Your Resume, Including an Internet Version, and Create/Update Your LinkedIn Profile
Once you
know the job you want and have collected information, you need
to create your resume, actually, two or three versions -- for
print, for e-mail, for completing online forms, and for your LinkedIn Profile or your personal
resume Web page -- with "keywords" for recruiters to
find. See Job-Hunt's Internet Resume and Social Media & Job Search sections for a more detailed instruction.
Find professional resume writers through a professional certification organization - Career Directors International - if you need professional help with your
resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn Profile, and other social media options.
Given how popular LinkedIn is with recruiters these days, creating your LinkedIn Profile is critical to your job search, and it will also help establish your "personal brand."
No LinkedIn Profile = Invisibility!
LinkedIn is now THE Website where recruiters are most likely to go when looking for candidates for their job openings. Consequently, not being in LinkedIn, and not having a good, 100% complete Profile, is being invisible to the vast majority (estimated at 80%) of recruiters. The sooner you get started building your LinkedIn Profile, the better. Read the LinkedIn articles in Job-Hunt's Social Media & Job Search section and the Personal Branding with Your LinkedIn Profile article for more information .
6. Get a
Personal Email Account
If you don't
already have an email account, different from the one you use in your job or your school, establish one NOW. Particularly if you are employed, use a personal account that your employer can't read and enabling potential employers and other job search contacts stay in touch with you easily and safely.
Use this email address for your job search and also for your LinkedIn and other online profiles. Using a work address, particularly for a LinkedIn Profile, can really complicate the process of updating your Profile when you no longer have access to the work email address.
You can establish a Web-based e-mail address at a
site like Gmail.com (from Google), Yahoo.com , or Hotmail.com (from MSN). These accounts can be anonymous,
if you set up your account that way (provide minimal contact information
in your account registration when you set it up). This is for personal protection and also to help you keep your job, if you are still employed.
DON'T
use your employer's e-mail system, if you are employed!
It can be a quick way to lose your job, and then how would
a potential employer find you? Looks a little tacky, too.
7. Get a
Personal Cell Phone
A personal cell phone enables potential employers and other job search contacts stay in touch with you easily and safely. If you don't
already have a personal cell phone, different from the one your employer may provide, get one NOW.
Particularly if you are employed, a personal cell phone provides both security and employment protection. Should a recruiter or employer wish to contact you during the work day, you don't want them to call you at work using your employers telephone. If someone leaves a message, or even a voicemail, for you regarding your job search, you could lose your job. Employers can and do legally monitor their telephone and voicemail systems.
A personal cell phone also protects your privacy, since they are not usually listed in white pages. Employers and recruiters will be able to call you on your personal cell phone without risk to your job, and you can put your personal cell phone number on your resume in place of a phone number which could be traced to your home.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the author...
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff "graduate" who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
