Over the past couple of months, through coaching a number of new clients, I’ve discovered that people don’t necessarily use the best job searching strategy. So here are my top 5 tips for effective job searching:-
1.Be clear on what you want to do. What is important to you? What type of roles are you inspired to do? What type of companies are you inspired to work for? If you are sitting there saying to yourself ‘INSPIRED???’, then I suggest you are not appropriately motivated and that is something you need to address quickly! I strongly suggest you work with a career coach to find your inspiration and motivation. See previous blogs for some inspiration
2. If you are unsure about what you want or what you are suited to, conduct your own market research. Print off 100 jobs that appeal to you on Seek/Career One of any other online job board. Highlight elements of the job that appeal to you. What patterns are there? What feels right to you? What is inspiring? What sounds fun and enjoyable?
3.Network! Use the social networking tools (like Linked In, Twitter and Face book) and don’t forget the old fashioned grapevine to let people know that you are looking for a role. When you do network for this purpose, do everyone a favour and be crystal clear about the type of roles you want and the type of companies/industries! Just to highlight how important this channel is - 60-70% of vacancies are filled through personal networking – so DON’T UNDERESTIMATE this valuable process. See previous blogs for more tips!
PS- If you are going to use social media tools, clean up your profiles. I’m often amazed at what people have openly on their profiles. Know that clever future employers these days will check out your online profile – so do yourself a favour and project a professional image. Once online – it’s difficult to undo, so think strategically!
4.Make sure you apply for roles that you are inspired by and that you are a good fit for. As highlighted in previous blogs, you need to work out your SDOT and only apply for roles that you fit and are qualified for. There is no point in this current job market applying for roles that you have a 60/70% fit for, unless of course you have a nasty unconscious desire to want to deal with constant rejection!
Take your market research and assess yourself objectively against the job criteria. If you were an employer looking at 300-400 applications, what is it about you that makes you stand out in the crowd?
5.Make sure you have your elevator pitch (Brand You) ready. See previous blogs. Where you can pick up the phone and speak to the advertiser DO SO! This has numerous benefits: a) it enables you to ask some great questions to tailor your application, (b) you can refer to your conversation in your application (making it very personalised) and (c) if you have done a fantastic job, you become TOM (top of mind) for the recruiter.
Make sure you end with something along the lines of ‘my name is XX and I’ll be applying this afternoon. Thank you for your time today’. Then ensure you have a great resume and application letter that is tailored to the job and the company you are applying to (see previous blogs).
My Performance Coach specialises in Career Coaching for professionals. We help you get unstuck, positively motivated and inspired to create the career of your dreams! Our aim is to empower and enable each and every client to develop a compelling vision, inspiring goals and to achieve the success they wish to create in their lives. Our qualified coaches do this through a structured and professional process combining profiling tools, supportive environment, a variety of different coaching methodologies, and sophisticated one-on-one training to expand and inspire growth and learning for our clients.
Contact us for further assistance.
