How to Start Your Job Search - 7 steps

How to Start Your Job Search - 7 steps If youre like most overwhelmed job seekers I speak with, youre feeling a bit, well, overwhelmed. In my experience overwhelm has a way of very quickly turning into failure to act (or lack of motivation) where the job search is concerned. If this sounds like you, dont worry.  Its a normal feeling and one thats easy to overcome.  Here are  some simple job search kickstarters to get your job search up and running. 1. Take a Bite-Sized Approach There are so many parts  to the job search and each requires a different approach or strategy. Start by breaking your job search down into bite-sized pieces. This is a great strategy especially if youre feeling unmotivated/overwhelmed as a bite-sized job search will feel more manageable and help you experience small wins along the way (not to mention boost your confidence). Figure out where exactly you fall on the job search spectrum and maintain focus.  For example if you havent received any interviews  your focus will need to be on some aspect of the application process (networking, applying, revising your resume). Dont spend time thinking about interviewing or salary negotiation at this point as it will be futile to the task at hand. 2. Get Focused on What You Want Its all about your target. What are you going after? Without this, watch out for endless job board roaming (yikes). When you actually do find what you want, you risk confusing the hiring manager with your lack of focus. Theyll want to know you are in it to win it ONLY with them. Spend some time getting focused on your target. If youre at a loss for how to do this  try some of the advice on this checklist for figuring out what you want to do in your next move (and career).   3. Get Clear on Who You Are Its all about your professional brand. Those in a position to hire must perceive you as the best person for their job simple as that. If youre hitting a wall when it comes to your professional brand, start here with this advice on branding basics. One way to know if its a branding issue is if youre not hearing back from the online application process OR your network.  Its very likely that they just dont know how to help you because you are not aligning your fit to your target. 4. Identify the Best Tools to Support Your Job Search There are more tools than ever available to job seekers depending on the bite-sized part of the search they are focusing on.  If its the online job search and finding jobs, try these job boards.    I try to only recommend whats necessary so you arent spending all your time in a job board. One of the most powerful professional branding tools ever is LinkedIn since most hiring managers will likely stumble upon your profile before they ask for your resume. If you know you are not optimized and need help, try this on for size. As a rule of thumb, you should be appearing in hiring manager searches and receiving connection requests from your target industry.  If you arent, youll want to consider spending more time on profile optimization.  Youll also want to familiarize yourself with the other features/benefits available via LinkedIn. 5. Contact Your Network While  the idea of networking may terrify you immensely, it still remains that your best chance of landing a job quick is  through the people you know.  This should be your entry point with every application if possible.  Start by making a list of everyone you know and reach out accordingly based on the nature of the relationship.  You dont want to email blast your network but rather address each contact strategically.  If you need more networking tips to feel comfortable, at least start by  jotting down the names of your offline and online  (LinkedIn) contacts.  This is a great first step in seeing the possibilities that exist even before you head to the job boards. If youre struggling to find high-value contacts use this LinkedIn search tutorial to make sure your networking is highly strategic. 6. Put Care into Each Application Knowing ones self is the first part. Communicating it outwardly, and well, is the other half of the story. You need to be able to walk the walk and talk the talk especially where your first impression is at stake. Just having the best elevator pitch is not enough without the best resume (and vice versa). If you feel like youre applying to hundreds of jobs without a response, youre either going about the application process the wrong way OR youre not branding yourself effectively in the application process. Take time to tailor your resume and cover letter and for goodness sake, try to find a contact to introduce you (because job boards and ATSs are the worst route possible)! Here are several pointers that will help you start to really get strategic when tailoring! 7. Think Positive Its true. Lack of positivity is sometimes hard for us to detect in ourselves but easily detected by outsiders. You dont want to even go down this road so you might want to spend some time recognizing your positivity pitfalls and then, putting into action a simple exercise that will give your mental game a boost. By starting your job search with these 7 steps, youll start to feel more confident that you are taking the right actions towards landing a job. If you want to optimize your job search strategy and increase your confidence moving forward, schedule a Strategy Call with Noelle today. In this powerful hour, you’ll receive a custom job search strategy roadmap including networking strategy, branding best practices, and everything youll need to  experience job landing success!