Your Step-By-Step Job Search

In one's quest for gainful employment, be it a new job or just a job to begin with, it is imperative to the success of your efforts to include a detailed plan of action to maximize your results. In this blog series, we will guide you using goals and milestones that will walk you to the promised land.

Today we begin at the beginning, coincidentally sub-titled Step 1 - Map Your Current Desired Career Path. If you want a job making money and doing good you have to embrace the notion that you won’t get there in a straight line. There will be hurdles to jump and speed bumps along the way. Careers today no longer follow linear trajectories that take you from graduation, to internship to employment up the ranks.

Make a list of past successes (relationships, people, jobs, or experiences that brought you to where you are today)   

Create a map with your past milestones and successes. Connect them chronologically, making note of the impact they had on your state of mind at the time. Draw your map on a white board, a large piece of paper or your computer.

Pick two random points and try to add in five more milestones, people, or experiences that got you from one step to the next.

Choose a different pen color and note your emotions throughout the map. How did you feel before and after you got your last job? When did you last feel overwhelmed or totally satisfied? 

Review your map. Take note of patterns, industries, themes, and clues that could inform your next step.

Ask yourself: What do I want to repeat? Do differently? Learn from this?  What industries or jobs emerge that may have been hiding in your peripheral vision?|
(http://50waystogetajob.com/mission/map-your-non-linear-career-path)

Be careful because you don't want to overthink your plan, but you do want it to be well thought out. (Confused yet?) Don't worry. It's as clear as mud. The bottom line is in today's highly competitive job market, you need to think outside the box to give you an edge over other job seekers.

But I get it. You’re stuck. You don’t know what you want to do next and it’s blocking you from finding a job.
Well, you know what? There are ways to figure it out. Time to get over that hurdle and move into job-search mode and into the active pursuit of your next career chapter.

Here are some motivating principles for you:

• It’s not a life sentence. Your next move is not a life sentence. You can try something new — and if you don’t like it, you can re-group later. Oh, and don’t focus on five-year goals or what you want to do in 10 years. Just think about what you like and don’t like for your next gig.
• You’ll never be sure. You’ll never be 100 percent sure it’s the right move until you’ve been in your next role for at least two years. And give it that much time. Year 1 is just learning. Year 2 is when you can really make an impact and gauge if you are satisfied.
• You’re not alone. There are many people in the same boat. Will you be the one who picks something and gets off the boat? Or will you be the one who sits in the boat using the same old, “I-don’t-know-what-I-want” excuse for not looking for a job?
• You’ve got plenty of choices. Look at the process of picking your next career move as if it were a shopping experience. You get to “window shop” at multiple opportunities, and then pick a few career targets for your next experience to “try on.”
• You can make two. It’s OK to have two job search goals. I don’t recommend more than that. One of my clients is aiming at two quite different career changes — one as an information technology (IT) applications specialist and the other as a customer-facing consultant. They are very different, and we are separating his search efforts by these two goals. He is applying to positions in both and we’ll see where he lands soon.
• ALWAYS Have a Plan B.Do I really have to explain this one?
  (http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/human-resources/2014/01/up-against-a-career-block.html?page=all)

How do you know when you are there?

You’re on track when you can fill in the following blanks:
I am looking for a <function> position in the <industry> or <industry> in <city>.
Example: I am looking for a customer service job in the banking or consumer goods industries in Minneapolis.

Now you can start searching with a lot more confidence, conviction and energy!

 So be prepared to jump through some hoops and tap dance for attention. It's tough out there. Not like it was 30 years ago. Back then people were farting through jobs on a regular basis. Recruiters and hiring managers now have the luxury of being able to be more selective and (IMHO) have complicated matters and holds a lot of the responsibility in people being unemployed.

Be sure to check in tomorrow, when we will be discussing the importance and impact social media - ESPECIALLY LinkedIn have in a job seekers success. In the meantime, why not send me your resume for a FREE critique? I will give you my professional opinion and what's good and bad about it. Maybe make some suggestions on how we can improve it and further help in your job search.

Visit http://tinyurl.com/grs7cyq  for your critique. I will send you my findings within 48 hours.