How To Get Started On Your Job Search

If you’re looking for a job, I want you to know how to get started and just what to do next. I’m going to give you 3 things to do to get started: These are 3 action items. How did I come up with these? Well, for starters, I have been in your shoes, looking for a job. And I made a lot of mistakes that I hope to prevent you from making. I’ve also coached MBA students at a top-ranked business school on job search skills, and I’ve taught a job search class. In order to be good at that job, I’ve probably read just about every article on job search ever written, and I’ve interviewed thousands of candidates for admission to the business school. I also have recruiting experience, have coached women returning to work after taking a career break and have been a hiring manager, so I know what it’s like to be on both sides of the job search equation. So let’s go!

Here’s how you can get started on your job search (1) define your personal brand, (2) make personal connections and (3) make yourself visible. Let’s dig into these.

Step #1 – Define Your Personal brand. You must know who you are and what you have to offer. How do you do this? Well, think about your strengths, your skills, and what you enjoy.... If you’ve been out of the workforce for any length of time, maybe as a stay at home parent, defining your personal brand might start with properly valuing the work you are doing for your family, schools, churches and wherever else you’ve been using your skills as a volunteer. You probably did things during this time that helped you develop new skills you can use in the paid workforce. I like to say “paid workforce” because I know that being a stay-at-home-parent involves a lot of work that you don’t get paid for with money. You get paid in other ways of course. It’s so rewarding. Those were my favorite years, being home with my kids.

OK, so back to your personal brand. Define your point of differentiation. Knowing who you are and what you have to offer means knowing what makes you different, what your unique point of differentiation is.

I want you to Develop a one-liner that captures the key skills that make you unique and valuable to a potential employer. Here are a few examples:...

I’m a marketing manager and I’ve worked with 3 different web application software products.

I’m a project manager with expertise in Project and program planning, scheduling, budgeting and estimating for tech companies.

I specialize in research for medical device companies and I oversee clinical research studies and ensures compliance.

Once you have your one-liner, practice using it when you introduce yourself to people at conferences or events or when people ask you what you do for a living.

So step 1 to getting started with your job search is to develop your personal brand.

Step #2 – Make personal connections. You have to use and grow your network.

There’s a guy who built a robot to apply to jobs by submitting customized emails with his resume and cover letter. His name is Robert Coombs and he wrote an article in Fast Company magazine called I Built A Bot To Apply To Thousands Of Jobs At Once–Here’s What I Learned. This is one of my favorite articles on the job search because it illustrated so perfectly why applying to jobs blindly online is a waste of your time. We’ll put a link to the article in the notes for this episode.

Robert built this bot because he knew that only robots or Applicant Tracking Systems would read his resume on the other side. He applied to 538 jobs in 3 months. Result: 43 companies reached out to him to request an interview and these were all small companies that didn’t have an ATS screening resumes. His conclusion – you’ll never get a job submitting resumes blindly online. Although I might add that if you are applying to a small company, there is a higher likelihood that a human will read your resume and cover letter.

Why can’t you get a job responding to online job ads? Because it’s estimated that 80% of jobs are never posted– and that percentage is even higher for senior-level jobs. The most efficient way to get a job is through networking.

You’ve probably heard people say that It’s wise to pursue companies not jobs – and this really means pursue people. To go about this in an organized way, make a list of target companies you’d like to work for. Then find people who work there. Invite them to coffee. Do informational interviews. Remember, there’s Less competition if the job is not posted.

When a job is posted, if you’re not a perfect fit, you won’t be selected. THAT’S WHY YOU HAVE TO GET OUT FROM BEHIND YOUR COMPUTER TO GET A JOB. Even if you have the skills and experience, you are probably not the only one who does. So you’ll need to know s...