Top 25 Tips for Finding a Better Job
Is a job change in order? Peruse the 25
most effective ways to job hunt. If it's time for new beginnings, and if you're
searching for a job, it's a good time to make sure your priorities are in
check. Begin with some basic soul-searching, move to creative networking, and
conclude with the foremost ways to investigate prospective companies. These are
all sure strategies for getting a competitive edge in the job market. But
finding a job means more than being competitive. In the bewildering new world
of technology—online boards, career centers, and growing numbers of complex web
sites—it also means knowing your way around. Here are 25 tips to learn how to
maximize your time, your effectiveness, and your chances of success in your
next career search!
1. First and foremost—take a personal inventory. Job hunting
gives you the opportunity to go back to "square one" and inventory
all over again what you are all about, what skills and knowledge you have
acquired, and what you want to do. Who are you? What do you want out of life? A
job? A career? Where are you going? Do you know how to get there? Have you been
happy in your work/career/profession? What would you like to change? An
inventory such as this is the best job hunting method ever devised because it
focuses your view of your skills and talents as well as your inner desires. You
begin your job hunt by first identifying your transferable, functional, skills.
In fact, you are identifying the basic building blocks of your work.
2. Apply directly to an employer. Pick out the
employers that interest you the most from any source available (web listings,
yellow pages, newspaper ads, etc.), and obtain their address. Appear on their
doorstep at your first opportunity with resume in hand. Even if you don't know
anyone there, this job hunting method works almost half the time, if you are
diligent and continue your pursuit over several weeks or months.
3. Ask relatives and friends about jobs where
they work. Ask
every relative and friend you have now or have ever had about vacancies they
may know about where they work, or where anyone else works. It may take a
village to raise a child, but it takes an entire network to find a new
job! If you tell everyone you know or
meet that you are job hunting and that you would appreciate their help, you
more than quadruple your chances of success.
4. Search hidden job markets. Networking is
the "Hidden Job Market." Because every time you make contact with a
person who is in direct line with your career interest, you set up the
possibility that he or she will lead you to more people, or to the job you are
seeking. People are connected to one another by an infinite number of pathways.
Many of these pathways are available to you, but you must activate them to make
them work to your advantage. Most of the available jobs are in the hidden job
market. They aren't listed in the classifieds or placed with a headhunter. Find
them through your network of contacts. This is your most valuable
resource!
5. Ask a professor or old teacher for job-leads. No one knows
your capabilities, dedication, and discipline better than a teacher or
professor who had the opportunity to work with you in school. Since more people
find their work through direct referral by other people than by any other way,
this is a target audience you don't want to miss.
6. Spend more hours each week on your job hunt. Finding a job is
a job! Treat your job hunting just as you would a normal job and work a normal
number of hours per week, at least 35, preferably 40 in the process. This will
cut down dramatically on the length of time it takes you to find work. Did you
know that the average person in the job market only spends 5 hours or less per
week looking for work? With that statistic, it isn't surprising that it can be
a long, tedious process. Improve your chances and demonstrate your discipline
and determination. Devote Sundays to answering ads and planning your strategy
for the next week. Don't spend precious weekday hours behind a computer. You
need to be out there researching leads, networking, and interviewing. Work
smarter for yourself!
7. Concentrate your job hunt on smaller
companies. Most
new jobs will come from smaller, growing companies, typically with fewer than
500 employees, not large, restructuring companies. Although larger employers
are more visible, well known and aggressive in their search for employees, it
is with the smaller companies that you may have the best chance of success in
finding work. Pay particular attention to those companies that are expanding
and on their way to prosperous growth…they are easier to approach, easier to
contact important personnel, and less likely to screen you out.
8. See more employers each week. If you only
visit six or seven employers a month in your job search (which is the average,
by the way), you will prolong your search and delay your successful outcome.
This is one reason why job hunting takes so long. If you need to see 45
employers to find a job, it only makes sense to see as many employers a week as
possible. Determine to see no fewer than two employers per week at a
minimum! Do this for as many months as
your job-hunt lasts. Keep going until you find the kind of employer who wants
to hire you! Looking for a job is a
numbers game. The more contacts you make, the more interviews you'll get. The
more interviews you have, the more offers you'll get.
9. Be prepared for phone interviews. Would you
believe that over 50% of prospective candidates are disqualified after the
first phone contact is made with them by an employer? In today's world,
employers don't have time anymore to interview every possible applicant and are
using phone calls as a less expensive, less time consuming way to weed out
potentially unqualified candidates. The phone interview catches many people off
guard. You might receive more than just one phone interview, and you have to
pass them all. The interviewer usually makes up his or her mind within the
first five minutes. The remainder of the time is spent just confirming first
impressions.
10. Create a support group. It is easy to
get discouraged, depressed and despondent (the three D's) in the job-hunt
process. This can be one of the toughest and loneliest experiences in the world
and the rejection you may have to face can be brutal, but it doesn't have to
be. The key is in understanding that you are not alone. There are literally hundreds
of thousands of people looking for work, and you can team up with one if you
choose. Many job-hunting groups already exist, such as the local Chambers of
Commerce and online support groups through the Internet. Find a partner, or a
larger group, and support and encourage each other. The path to success is
literally a phone call away.
11. Contact potential employers directly through
professional associations. Professional associations provide excellent networks
for your benefit. Almost all committed professionals are members of at least
one or two professional networks. Usually membership includes a directory,
which provides you with a direct networking resource for verbal contact and
mail campaigns. Additionally, most professional associations hold regularly
scheduled meetings, which provide further opportunities to mingle with your
professional peers on an informal basis. Finally, professional associations all
have newsletters that are a valuable resource for other trade publications,
associations, and help wanted sections.
12. Post your resume online. In today's world
there are numerous resume databases on the web. Job hunters can now tap into
giant online databases when launching a search prior to interviewing. There are
three primary ways to job search electronically or online: Joblines, Bulletin
Board Systems (BBS), and the Internet. Many employers today have their
employment opportunities accessible through a simple phone call.
13. Promote yourself in unique ways. Promotion is
creating an audience of potential employers and making them aware of your
qualifications. There are many nontraditional ways to accomplish this task. For
example, use electronic resume services to broadcast your resume. List yourself
in appropriate trade association newsletters. Prepare 3 x 5 Rolodex cards that
contain your name, address, and phone number on the front and your objective
and skills from your resume on the back. Leave them behind wherever you go and
give them to anyone who has reason to contact you later about a job.
14. Accept a temporary position or volunteer
work. Be
your own working advertisement by accepting a temporary position. This provides
you with valuable experience, contacts, and references. Volunteer for
organizations and activities with business sponsors and relationships that
increases your visibility and personal contacts. Explore your possibilities and
leave all options open. You never know which method may ultimately land you
your ideal job.
15. Make cold-calls. Next to
face-to-face meetings, the telephone is the most effective method available to
find a job. Every call you make is an opportunity to sell yourself to a
prospective employer, to pursue a new job opening, or to obtain a referral.
Your technique in the initial telephone call can have a categorical impact on
your chances to obtain what you want from the call. Complete at least 15 calls
per day. You will be astonished at the results. Always be agreeable, gentle,
and positive. Smile when you speak; the listener will hear it. Prepare a brief
outline for each call and rehearse it. Create brief statements that outline how
you can help your prospective employer accomplish their goals. Always, always,
always ask for referrals.
16. Re-define your job hunt in terms of
alternative possibilities. Successful job hunters always have alternative plans
ready in the background and implement them at the first sign of difficulty.
Prepare alternative ways of describing what you do, alternative avenues of job
hunting, alternative leads and contact lists, alternative target organizations
and employers to contact, alternative ways to approach prospective companies,
and alternative plans to continue your job hunt through its successful
completion. The jobs are out there—you just need to be sure you are using the
right methods to look for them.
17. Seek career counseling or job hunting help
online. Many
service providers, through the Internet, are offering career counseling
services, job hunting advice, and reference tools that you can turn to in your
job hunt. Some of the best of these services are free, and the number is
growing astronomically each year.
18. Consider federal and local government
sources. The
federal government is a huge resource of potential job search information,
available to you at little or no cost. Several Department of Labor
publications, for example, can take you through your job search from beginning
to end, and help with career counseling and industry research. Call your local
employment office and take advantage of the services they offer.
19. Make sure you can survive financially between
jobs. Budget
for the time you will be looking for a job. It is always helpful if you can get
an overall view of how your money will carry you through any work search or
training you may need to take on. You will have enough worries and issues to
deal with and do not want to have to be concerned about your finances.
20. Set and prioritize goals while job-hunting. You need to know
what you want, or else you can't ask for it. There are literally thousands of
jobs open around you. Determine what it is that you want, set your goals for
achieving this, and prioritize the steps that you will ultimately need to take.
The more specific you are about your goal, the better your chances of getting
the job you want.
21. Zero in on a career position and research the
market. Before
you start meeting people, you need to know something about the industry or
field you want to work in. The more you know, the better your conversations
with prospective employers will be—and the more impressed they will be with
you.
22. Interview others for information. Interview people
whose occupations interest you. You can always find someone who has done
something that at least approximates what you want to do. Find the names of
such persons, and go see, phone, or write them. You will learn a great deal
that is relevant to your dream.
23. Organize a job search campaign. Organize your
job search campaign. Failing to do so is a common flaw in many people's job
search strategy. Make a plan for your job search. This entails: planning and
organizing your job strategy, setting up a base or operations center for your
job hunt, preparing materials, and carrying out job search tactics.
24. Update your resume and be prepared. Update that
resume! A resume is what nearly everyone
you approach in your job search is going to ask for.
25. Keep yourself dedicated, strong, positioned,
and consistent. Job-hunting
can certainly be one of life's most stressful experiences. You have more power
to keep the pressures of job hunting under control, however, than you may
think. The key is to focus your job search and stay strong, dedicated and
consistent. One of the curious things about the human brain is that it focuses
on only one thing at a time. So keep it focused on you—and finding a job!
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