Job Search Strategy
After you’ve written your resume and cover letter, come up with references, and brushed up on your interviewing skills, you decide to get serious about your job search. Here are some steps you can take to get the job done and make your job searches more productive. If you specifically need an executive resume, check out our executive resume tips section.
Make a list of twenty employers in your area that you would like to work for. As part of your online job search, visit each of their websites, taking note of any position openings listed on their corporate site. Usually job openings, or vacancies, are listed under sections labeled About Us, or Human Resources, or Job Opportunities. If you can’t easily find the right section, you can sometimes use the search engine on the site to locate job openings at the company.
Apply for any appropriate openings. As part of your local job search, call Human Resources or Personnel at companies you’re interested in. Many times the staff in HR may know about openings not listed yet. This can sometimes be a great job search shortcut. The HR people can be very helpful (it’s their job to help people who are interested in working for their company). If they can’t be of assistance over the telephone, they will likely refer you to their website to view current vacancies.
Come up with a list of all your networking contacts. This should include anyone you know in your industry. You can also include names of relatives or friends who may have contacts at various companies (especially at any of the twenty employers on your first list). You can call or e-mail your contacts to let them know you are looking for a new position. See if any of them know anyone that works for the companies on your list. Word of mouth is very important in a job search. You never know who may know about an opening in your industry.
Use the internet to visit job search sites and/or job search engines. Come up with a list of job search engines that you can check daily. They usually allow you to put in your city and state or zip code so you can limit your search to your geographic area. You can pull up job openings by location or industry. Most sites allow you to search by keywords as well. There are lots of job search websites so you should have no difficulty - some of these sites are called banks so you may want to also do an internet search on job bank search.
Job searches can seem overwhelming. It’s best to come up with a specific plan like the one outlined here. Begin working the plan a day at a time. Divide your job search up into small steps that you complete one by one. Stay organized and keep notes on where you’ve applied, names of people you’ve talked to, etc. If you stay focused with your eye on the prize, you’ll find that position you’re looking for in no time.