Where Do You Think Your Job Search Needs The Most Work?
06/17/2021
If you are still seeking employment? Where do you think your job search needs the most work.
- Knowing what you want. Determining the industry, field, and type of job you are going to pursue.
- Finding opportunities and contacts. Seeking out new people to contact, companies to approach, and positions for which to apply.
- Applying to employers. Applying for the openings you already know about; approaching the people and companies you have already found.
- Getting interviews. Turning your applications and approaches into interviews.
- Landing the job. Converting your interviews into job offers.
Do you already know where you are stuck or lost? If not, try asking yourself the following questions:
- Are you newly entering the job market or re-entering after a long absence?
- Are you uncertain what you want to do next?
- Have you been applying for a wide variety of jobs?
- Do you find yourself constantly revising your résumé?
- Are the job opportunities in your field extremely limited?
- Are you thinking of changing careers?
If you answered Yes to the questions above, you probably need to focus on knowing what you want.
Or:
- Are you just beginning your job search?
- Does none of the opportunities you are finding seem right for you?
- Is your personal network very small or nonexistent?
- Are you relying on the Internet to find open positions?
- If you sat down to contact every lead you currently have, would you be done before it was time for a coffee break?
- Have you already followed up with every one of your contacts or leads within the past thirty days?
If you answer Yes to the questions above, you probably need to focus on finding opportunities and contacts.
Or:
- Do you have a stack of leads and opportunities on which you haven’t followed up?
- Have you been in the habit of applying only for posted positions or only by contacting human resource departments?
- Have you applied for positions for which you did not receive a response?
- Are you wondering how to go about pursuing opportunities you’ve uncovered?
- Do you struggle with composing cover letters or what to say when you phone a prospective employer?
- Do you give up when an employer doesn’t respond to your first letter or call?
If you answered Yes to the questions above, you probably need to focus on applying to employers.
Or:
- Have you applied for a number of positions for which you felt well qualified, but didn’t get an interview?
- Are you following up consistently on y our applications and approaches, but interviews do not have positive results?
- Are you relying on your qualifications alone to get you in the door?
- Do employers refuse to take your call or brush you off when you do get through?
- Are the companies you’re approaching telling you they don’t have any openings?
- Are you approaching only companies in which you have no contacts?
If you answer Yes to the questions above, you probably need to focus on getting interviews.
Or:
- Are you getting preliminary interviews but neither second interviews nor job offers as a result?
- Do the jobs for which you’re being interviewed seem off-target or too low level?
- Do you feel awkward or wonder what to say during an interview?
- Do you walk into interviews knowing little or nothing about the company?
- Do you get the feeling your interviews aren’t going well?
- Have you gotten job offers that you couldn’t take because the salary was too low or there wasn’t much opportunity to advance?
- Do you feel your only option is to “do nothing but wait” once an interview is over?
If you answered Yes to the questions above you probably need to focus on landing the job.
Wherever you feel stuck or lost, there is an approach and an action plan that will help you get you back on track to a successful job search.
Let me know where you think you need the most help and we can discuss what success ingredients will be most helpful to develop a job search action plan.
Caring for your success,
Lee Gamelin