If it’s time for new beginnings and 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.
1. Take a personal inventory
When job hunting, you get the chance to go back to square one and acknowledge everything you know about yourself, your skills, and your desires.
- Who are you?
- What do you want out of life? A job? A career?
- Where have you been and what did you learn in those prior employments?
- 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 way to begin job hunting because it focuses on your skills and talents as well as your inner desires. First, identify your transferable, functional skills. In fact, you are identifying the basic building blocks of your work!
2. Spend more hours each week on your job hunt.
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 in mind, it isn’t surprising that job hunting can be a long, tedious process. Improve your chances and demonstrate your discipline and determination by persistently searching for a job in a systematic way.
3. 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. Pay particular attention to those companies that are expanding and on their way to prosperous growth…they’re easier to approach, easier to contact important personnel, and less likely to screen you out.
4. Search hidden job markets
Networking is the “hidden job market” because whenever you meet someone who is directly inline with your career interest, you create the possibility that they will lead you to more opportunities, or to the job that you’re in search of.
Most available jobs are in the “hidden job market”. They aren’t listed in the classifieds or placed with a recruiter (yet). Be the first to know about them through your own network of contacts. This is your most valuable resource!
