No matter how you got there—resigned, downsized, laid off, fired—stepping out into the job market is an overwhelming experience. You want to get moving and see progress ASAP, but that first step can be the hardest.

Most likely, you’re carrying many emotions, memories, and ideas related to your past work, what you liked and didn’t like. The first and most impactful thing you can do right away is to reflect on these prior experiences and unpack your career.   

Start unpacking

For many of us, looking back at past jobs is a bittersweet exercise. Maybe you loved the industry but hated your boss. Perhaps the commute was a breeze but the projects were a boring slog. Maybe some days you came home excited to share about your day while other days drained the life out of you.

No matter where you’re at or where you’re going, your work history is a combination of good, bad, and ugly. Some aspects you want to continue, and other aspects you hope never to do again.

The entire range of your experience is packed up together. What you need to do is systematically revisit your past roles and identify the positive things you’d like to repeat and the negative things you’d like to avoid if possible in your next job.

7 practical steps to unpack your career

Here’s how to go about unpacking your career and get started on a successful job search:

1. 1) Block out 30 minutes in a quiet area without distractions.
   
   
2. 2) Get a sheet of blank paper and draw a line down the middle of the page from top to bottom. Write a plus (+) sign on one side and a minus (–) sign on the other. Download Unpack Your Career Worksheet (PDF).
   
   
3. 3) Think about your last job and the various aspects of your role. Here are a few areas to consider:
   * Company size and type: small/startup, midsize, large/corporate, non-profit
   * Industry: manufacturing, technology, banking, retail, etc.
   * Products/services you worked with
   * Your functional role and responsibilities on the team
   * Team leadership areas
   * Key problems you solved
   * Company culture: What was it like to work there
   * Compensation/benefits
   * Commute/travel requirements/work hours
   * Type of clients you worked with
   * Systems or technology used in the role
   * What attracted you to join that company? Why did you leave?
   * What topics or situations typically led to conflict?
   * Any insights from personal assessments? (DISC/Strength Finder/Myers-Briggs)
   * What areas did you receive complimentary feedback or recognition? What areas were more of a struggle, as noted in performance reviews or meetings?
   * What made a good day good? What made a bad day bad?
   * Related to the company, what would you complain about with your colleagues? What would you praise?
   * What gave you energy and inspiration? What sucked your energy and drained you?
   
   
4. 4) On the plus (+) side of your paper, write down all of the positive things you enjoyed and would like to repeat. Write down everything that comes to your mind, from the high-level ideas and to the trivial details.
   
   
5. 5) On the minus (-) side, write down all of the negative things you didn’t enjoy and would prefer not to repeat. Be honest with yourself as you think about areas that may have led to poor performance or personal frustration.
   
   
6. 6) Repeat this process for each of your prior jobs, paid and volunteer. You should end up with a full list on both sides of the page. 
   
   
7. 7) Review your list and circle your Top 5 on each side. Some ideas can be combined, if that helps narrow the list. 
   
   

What do you do with your unpacking list?

After you’ve taken a full inventory of your work experience, it’s time to apply this information to your present job search.

Say it out loud. In my own life, I have found there is real power in saying something out loud. Let’s do this with what you just learned. Read through your list out loud, and start each column by saying:

• “In reflecting on my past roles, the top five things that I really enjoyed and gave me energy are…”

 

• “In reflecting on my past roles, the top give things that I did NOT enjoy and sucked my energy are…”

 

Listen to yourself read your list out loud. Did it inspire and empower you? Did it cause you to rethink anything in your Top 5? Did you forget anything?

Saying your list out loud should either reinforce or challenge the ideas you silently wrote on the page. What sounded like a good idea in your head may not sound so good when you say it out loud.

Be realistic. We can’t always get the “perfect” next job. But your list is a helpful set of guiding principles and a source of inspiration to point your aim in the right direction. All roles and companies will fall short and disappoint us in some ways because the perfect company with the perfect people doesn’t exist. The goal of the list is not perfection. It’s about moving in the right direction with intentionality and purpose.

Share it. Tell someone who knows you well what you just learned. Talk through your list with your spouse, a close friend, or a past co-worker. Ask for their feedback and take it to heart. Trust your instincts, but recognize that other people can serve as a mirror to reflect the truth in our lives. Be open to additional ideas and questions as you refine your initial list. Sharing your list is also a practical way to invite others to help you with your job search. If people know what you’re looking for, they can be your advocates in the marketplace.

Congratulations! Reflecting on your past jobs to develop a game plan for moving forward is time well spent.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

A successful job search begins before you ever start looking for work. Time is a precious commodity during career transition, but you can’t afford not to dedicate at least one day to get your head, heart, and health in a
good place.

Going through a job change can trigger all kinds of difficult emotions. Anxiety, fear, shame, anger, frustration, confusion. Add shock to the mix, if the situation involves a layoff notice, termination, or company office closure.

The first step in the job search process is to clear your head and get recharged. Unfortunately, this critical step is often neglected in our “always on” world. Since it can be hard to rest, ironically we need to work to rest.

Don’t worry. Taking 24 hours will not cause you to miss any job opportunities. More likely, it will help you shorten your job search process by equipping you with a recharged mind.

Here are 24 ways to get recharged in 24 hours. Pick and choose from this list of practical ideas based on whatever gives you rest, energy, or inspiration:

1. Create an ideal daily routine

For mental health, if we sleep in and don’t have a schedule we can drift into reading the news or other distractions. It’s important to balance healthy routines such as reading, working out, “office hours” at your computer and social breaks. Creating an ideal routine keeps you moving forward in a healthy cadence as we seek structure and “normal flow”. Creating a balanced calendar of work and rest is a healthy foundation for your job search.

2. Drink eight glasses of water

Most of us don’t drink enough water. Water helps flush out toxins and is critical for health. For a healthy job search, add daily habits that involve putting good things in—and flushing out the bad.

3. Read and pray/meditate

Read an inspirational book. Focus on important truths in life and fill your mind with positive inputs to offset. Whether you pray or meditate – look for a foundation for hope and joy. Slow down, close your eyes, focus on truth, release worries you can’t control, and be more present in the moment. A job search can be hard for many of us because we derive too much value, meaning and worth from a job.  When our work is in jeopardy, our identity is compromised. I encourage you to not define yourself, your purpose, and your life in terms of just your job.

4. Go for a run (or long walk)

When stressed out, it is a great time to go for a long walk or run. Getting outside in fresh air, getting the blood moving and reducing stress is good for the body and soul. It also helps create mental clarity and focus. A job search is a marathon, not a sprint. Prepare an endurance mindset and enjoy what you might see and learn on the journey.

5. Turn off your phone and computer

Technology is great for keeping us connected, but makes it difficult to unwind. I find myself getting stressed out if I don’t have my smart phone with me for even just a few hours. Take a “fast” from technology for a day. You won’t miss anything important, and it will help you reset your mind and avoid irrelevant distractions. As helpful as it can be, technology can also distract you during a job search. Set aside blocks of time when you are not checking your phone or email (or Facebook/Instragram/News) so you can get things done and focus on what is actually important.

6. Eat healthy food and snacks

Plan out healthy food and snacks for the day. Our bodies are highly complex and integrated machines. Good fuel for your body and mind will keep you alert, more emotionally stable, and less likely to crash from lack of energy. Ironically, comfort food will only make you uncomfortable later. A job search likely means you’ll be working from home when you are not used to it. You will be tempted to snack more than normal. Think ahead. Keep healthy snacks and food at hand to help keep you at top performance.

7. Eat one awesome dessert treat at dinner

I believe it’s good to eat healthy 90 percent of the time, but it’s also fun to celebrate with great desserts. When treats are occasional and rare, you will appreciate them more. On a job search, it’s OK to set rewards for yourself and celebrate wins along the way.

8. Reconnect with a good friend

Sometimes we get busy at work and with life and forget to connect with certain friends. Think of a close friend you haven’t seen for a while, and meet up for coffee, lunch or video chat. Friends can often make a connection or introduction to someone you wouldn’t know otherwise, which is obviously helpful during a job search.

9. Write down 20 things you are grateful for

Get a pen and paper (since you are fasting from technology). Write down 20 things you are grateful for. Don’t overthink this or worry about prioritizing the list, just write things down as they come to you. Include the simple stuff and the profound.  A heart of gratitude and thankfulness is good for a job search, as it’s easy to fixate on things that are not right rather than appreciating the many blessing you already have in your life. Practicing this mindset will also help this attitude come across in the way that you talk about past jobs and employers.

10. Honestly reflect on three things you could have done better in your last job

Any job is like a relationship. When it ends, no one is ever 100 percent to blame. Take responsibility and assess a few key things you could have done better. What can you learn from that experience, and how can you do things differently in the future? Part of a successful job search is the ability to look back, learn from the past, and make a game plan going forward. Honest self-awareness and a desire to improve will come across as authentic and attractive in interviews as well.

11. Say “I’m sorry” to someone you need to

Think of just one person you need to apologize to. Maybe it’s your spouse, your kid, a parent, a co-worker, or a friend. Simply share a heartfelt “I’m sorry.” It will be good for both of you. When we don’t apologize for stuff we should, it’s like carrying a bag of boulders. When we apologize, we can shed the burden and drop that extra weight. The weight of unresolved conflict will burden your job search. Strained relationships cause us to look back and not forward.

12. Clean your desk

Take 30 minutes and clean off your desk area. Shelve your books. File your bills. Put things in drawers that are piling up. Get folders and get organized. It’s a small win, but it will feel good. A cluttered workspace will increase distractions on a job search.

13. Watch a funny and/or motivational movie

What movie really makes you laugh or feel inspired? Make plans to watch it tonight.  Just like healthy food aid your body, a regular flow of positive mental inputs is good for your soul on the job search.

14. Do a fun new activity

Try something new you’ve been wanting to do. It doesn’t need to be expensive, just new and different. A job search will be full of new people, companies, and experiences. You’ll be stretched outside your comfort zone. Learn to see these activities as fun new adventures and opportunities to learn.

15. Stretch

Take 15 minutes to stretch, or a little longer for a yoga class. Many of us sit at a desk all day and our bodies are wound up too tight. We all know stretching is a good idea, but we often don’t do it until something hurts and we are forced to. You want to be loose and not uptight for the job search.

16. Buy a new shirt

A little “shopping therapy” never hurts. Wearing a new shirt makes you feel good, boosts confidence, and represents a small investment in yourself. First impressions matter in interviews, so consider investing in some new clothes before you set out on the job search.

17. Wash or clean out the car

Taking care of your car is a practical way to demonstrate gratitude for the vehicle you have, and to make the most of it. We may not have the perfect career background or impressive accessories, but you can polish what you got to make a positive impression during your job search.

18. Throw something away

Look through your garage/shed/closet, find something that is taking up unnecessary space in your life, and get rid of it. Tossing excess is a small but important gesture. We sometimes carry baggage from past jobs and co-workers. Throw it away and move on.

19. Do a random act of generosity

Buy coffee or groceries for someone behind you in line. It will be a blessing to both of you. Generosity demonstrates a heart of caring for people and a desire to give back to the community. It’s a practical way to demonstrate that it’s not all about you. A successful job search might depend on the timely generosity of a few people, so model this yourself now.

20. Write down 10 new “firsts” you’d like to accomplish in the next year

We settle into routines in life. What are a few new things you could do this year that would be fun? Ideas might include travel or visiting a new place in your neighborhood. Developing a longer-term view and a vision for the future aligns well with your job search season because it compels you to think about where you want to go next and what inspires you.

21. Pick up trash and pull some weeds

Walk around a neighborhood or local park and make a difference. Trash and weeds won’t clean up themselves, and you can make a small impact in 15 minutes. Though it’s easy to ignore and step over trash and weeds, getting rid of small negative things and habits can build positive momentum in life and your job search.

22. Listen to your favorite song and sing out loud

Music you love gets your body moving, and singing makes you feel silly and alive at the same time. Listen to your favorite song on the way to an interview. If you feel silly at times during interview questions and situations, just roll with it and have fun.

23. Visit a new store or restaurant

Go to that place you’ve been meaning to check out in your neighborhood. Or try a random new spot. You will learn something new about your neighborhood (good or bad) that you didn’t know when you woke up. On the job search, you’ll be checking out all kinds of companies in your city that you didn’t know about before. You will be more educated and interesting after this process.

24. Date night “in”

Make dinner (or order takeout), light a candle, get a rose, turn on some music, and have a fun dinner in with your significant other. Say thank you and show appreciation for what they mean to you. Share specific examples of things that were special in recent months. Remember the people who are important in your life. Think about how your next job can honor them and make them an even greater priority.

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For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

Is anything holding you back before you begin your job search? The time will come for networking, sending in applications, and scheduling interviews. But first, take time to evaluate these seven critical personal dashboard indicators.

Last year, we hit the road to visit family in Oregon. At one point along the way, I started the car and saw that mysterious “check engine” red light turn on. Not good. The timing wasn’t great, but I knew it made sense to put our driving plans on hold for the day and call the local mechanic.

Red lights on your car dashboard warn of serious trouble. Likewise, life comes with its own indicators that signal whether we’re OK to proceed, or if we need to stop for some maintenance. Ignore the flashing red lights in your life, and you won’t get very far or arrive at your ideal job destination.

A job transition can force us to stop and think about life. Absent the full calendar and mental clutter that accompany steady work, we are forced to slow down. It is a great time to stop and ask, “What should I be learning right now?” If you just rush to update your resume, you may miss a bigger opportunity for new growth and insight that could positively impact your life.

Is your dashboard green, yellow, or red?

As you read through the following seven job search dashboard indicators, conduct a quick self-analysis. Consider the question at the end of each section and assign yourself a status: red, yellow, or green:

• Green: This area is fine and healthy
• Yellow: This issue could use some work, but it’s not critical
• Red: This reveals something unhealthy that is really impacting you.

After you complete the exercise, I would encourage you to focus your energies on addressing the red indicators, since these tenuous areas could negatively impact your job search and your life.

In working through this material with hundreds of people, I’ve found that most people have at least one red indicator holding them back on the job search. If you encounter hard truth, I encourage you to lean in, be honest with yourself, and use this quick personal assessment as a chance to get healthy and correct your course.

1. IDENTITY: A sense of personal meaning, value, and worth

When someone asks, “What do you do?,” how do you answer? When you talk about your job, do you feel overly proud or especially bummed out? Do you worry about what others think of you based on your job?

We spend so much time at work, it’s no wonder that our job tends to define us as a person. Paying the bills, commuting, getting ready for the day, and being at the office—all of these contribute to the feeling that our jobs rule our lives. But if we let work rule over us in this way, like some kind of god, we become miserable, depressed, exhausted, lonely, and stressed.

A job is a really good thing, but it’s not the ultimate thing. I encourage you to find a sense of identity and meaning in something bigger and more important than work, something that gives you strength and peace of mind with or without a job.

Check your dashboard: Do you find identity, meaning, and worth outside of your job?

2. TRUST: A source of hope and assurance

When life is running fine, it’s easy to believe we can handle pretty much anything on our own. We like to be self-sufficient and in control. We don’t think we need anyone else in our life, as if independence were a sign of strength.

A job search can shake us up by challenging our source of strength, wisdom, purpose, and answers. We need more help than we realized before. During seasons of change and uncertainty, it’s helpful to focus on what you know to be true and trustworthy. Who or what can you count on? Your family? Your friends? Your faith? Other blessings in your life? Such reminders can reset your resolve and provide a solid foundation for the stormy job search ahead on what is most important.

Check your dashboard: Are you leaning on the foundational truths in your life for strength and encouragement?

3. PEACE: A feeling of calm over anxiety

A job change impacts every aspect of life, especially if you have a family who depends on you. Do you feel worried and anxious about the job search? If so, you are not alone. Many people feel unsettled during career transition.

Worry and anxiety, however, can destroy your job search by provoking short-term, reactionary thinking. Interviewers can sense when someone is anxious and not at peace, which can come across as desperate and insecure.

When you feel fear and anxiety cropping up, I encourage you to:

• Remember that FEAR stands for a Frantic Effort to Avoid Responsibility. Is there something you should take responsibility for and do right now?

 

• Recall the things you trust in, and feel gratitude for the things going well in your life.

 

• Realize that you cannot control everything in the world and in your life, but some things you do have the power to control. Small wins in these areas can quickly build momentum.

 

• Revisit things that have given you peace of mind, joy, and rest in the past, and do what you know works.

A season between jobs can actually be a great time to look back and make a plan for a better life. Many people have told me they were grateful for a change because it freed them up for something better. Try to look at this time as a gift, and a “personal retreat” to invest in yourself and your future.

Check your dashboard: Do you feel a sense of peace in the journey ahead?

4. MONEY: A necessary and often stressful part of life

Money is the primary reason most of us go to work. Even if you love your job, you’d probably stop showing up as much if you didn’t get paid.

Money is a great tool, too, to get things we need and want. But when we place too much emphasis on money, it can lead to painful problems for us and those we care about. Obsessing over money clouds our ability to think clearly, which can lead to reactionary career decisions, such as taking the first job that comes up. Living month-to-month with no savings and high debt can cause this sort of job search panic.

Our spending habits and perspective on money reveal a lot about what we value and care about most. Almost half of all Americans can’t afford to miss a paycheck, and consumer debt seems to hit an all-time high each year. Struggling with personal finance is a national pastime. As difficult as it is to cultivate a healthy perspective on money, this essential discipline will alleviate much stress.

A job search reveals our financial health and views of money. Obviously it will help financially once you land the next job, but this could reveal the need for added discipline in spending, budgeting, and maintaining a healthier view of money. With financial discipline, you can also bless people around you with generosity. Money can rent happiness, but it can’t buy true joy in our lives.

Check your dashboard: Do you have a budget and spend less than you make? Do you view money in a healthy way?

5. COMMUNITY: People you can go to for help, encouragement, discussion, and friendship

During a job search, people tend to retreat from friends and others who care about them most. There are a few internal lies and negative self-talk that can happen when it comes to having other people help you during this time. Any of these statements sound familiar?

• “I need to be self-sufficient. I don’t want to be (or feel like) a burden on others.”
• “People will judge me or think less of me because I don’t have a job.”
• “My friends are busy. They probably don’t have time to help me right now, and I don’t want to bug them”

True friends and family love you and care for you because of who you are, not because of the job you have. They care about you and would love to help out, but you may need to tell them how.  

A job search is a great time to ask for help, seek encouragement, and reconnect with people you have not seen for awhile. It’s a good search strategy to engage a broader network of people, but it’s also good for the soul.

Check your dashboard: Have you reconnected with friends to ask for their help and encouragement?

6. HEALTH: Energy level and physical fitness habits

A successful job search is a marathon that requires your full health and energy. Are you taking care of your health? You know the drill: Eat healthy food, move more, get more sleep, drink more water, and take your daily vitamins.

You wouldn’t pour sand into your car gas tank, right? Our bodies are finely tuned machines that respond positively or negatively to how we treat them. A job search is a great opportunity to hit “reset” and get back to healthy habits that you can hopefully continue after landing the new job.

Likewise, focus on energy management, which is a balance of physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Some things drain you and some things fill you back up. You need enough positive inputs to balance things out.

When you are healthy, you’ll feel better. This vitality will be evident in the interview. You’ll make a better first impression, and you’ll be mentally sharper, which can make a big difference for a competitive role.

Check your dashboard: Do your current health habits and energy management strategy support your job search?

7. ORGANIZATION: Order in chaos

Some people have the natural gift of organization. For the rest of us, getting organized is more of a challenge that we need to work at.

Take responsibility, plan ahead, prepare to track your job search, and you’ll experience less stress and better results. Things can get busy and confusing quickly if you don’t have a system and if your desk and computer are cluttered.

Being disorganized can hurt. You don’t gain a competitive advantage when you forget appointments, neglect to next steps, fail to follow-up on referrals from friends, or arrive late to your interview without your prep notes. Healthy organizational habits will make your job search ordered and manageable.

Check your dashboard: When you look at your desk, computer, and job search tools, is it organized like you want?

Congrats, your diagnostic is complete! Some sections will be easy and some may challenge you. Hopefully, this quick self-assessment gets you to stop and think about a few important matters, and triggers some ideas of things to work on. As yourself, “What should I be learning through this experience?”

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

For some of us, getting organized is one of life’s never-ending, soul-sucking tasks. Like pulling weeds or doing taxes. So let me make this as simple as possible by boiling it down to four key organization areas.

If you’re embarking on a career transition, getting organized in these four areas will set you up for success. Of course, there’s always more to be done. The difference is you can go a day without organizing your shed, but forget a job interview, and that opportunity is gone.

Don’t get overwhelmed with everything that could be done. Don’t waste time shuffling paper or cleaning your desk—again. Only do what is necessary. Focus on the following areas first and get four quick wins that will set you up well for the job search journey ahead.

1. Organize your workspace (AKA “Command Center”)

You need to have a desk or designated workspace at home that you can use as your job search Command Center. This is the place where you “go to work” and are most productive with minimal distractions.

When your things are scattered you feel scattered. You’ll also be lured to distraction by piles of papers and junk. A clean desk can give you an extra boost of energy and confidence that helps you maintain momentum during a job search.  

Clean off everything from the desk except your computer, your checklist, and anything you are working on today. Buy some manila folders so you can label stuff and file it away in a drawer. Make it a goal to clean your workspace at the end of each day so that tomorrow you can begin with a fresh start.

If your workspace is at home where roommates or family members orbit nearby, wear headphones and listen to background music. It’s helpful to have an audio cue which kicks you into work mode.

2. Organize your computer

Do you know where to find things on your computer? If not, here’s a quick tip: Right click, “New Folder.” Do a quick cleanup on your computer desktop, just like you did for your physical desktop to minimize distractions.

Also, create a dedicated folder called Job Search. This could be on your computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, or whatever is most accessible for you. Add a few subfolders so that you know where to save things and where to find them later. I recommend:

• Resume. Here’s where you keep your master resume and any specific versions. This folder may also include documents you might send along with your resume, such as portfolio materials or company-specific applications.

 

• Introduction template. Once you create your ideal email and LinkedIn pitch, keep it as a file that you can copy and paste to save time. Like your resume, you may have a master letter with revised versions tailored for specific companies or job opportunities.

 

• Target companies. Put everything related to target company research in this folder. Your research may be all in one document, or a file for each company. I recommend creating a Target Company document in Excel or Google Sheets. It has three tabs to categorize companies you may want to work for: the top Dozen List, the Big List, and the Backburner. As companies move up and down your list of potentials, simply cut and paste the related information from tab to tab as you about your job search.

 

• Weekly Success Tracker. This folder will contain the file you use to track your weekly job search progress. This file is like your personal coach, keeping you accountable to the task at hand, and I recommend updating it at the end of each day.

 

• Interview prep. Include a folder where you save written answers to common interview questions (especially the top two questions you will always get asked), your case studies, and other interview ideas. You might even create a short-form summary document with notes that you can print out and use for in-person interviews.

 

• Resources. During your job search, you will discover insights about yourself, interesting articles, and other resources. For example, this is a good place to save your free DISC Personal Profile results, your Job Search Checklist, and the Unpack Your Career Worksheet. In other words, it’s a good catchall folder for miscellaneous items related to your job search.

 

3. Organize your time

There is much to write about time management. In fact, during the time it takes to read this sentence, 73 new books on the subject were published. The one I recommend is David Allen’s Getting Things Done. I’m also a fan of Dave Crenshaw and The Myth of Multi-tasking.

My best advice? Don’t overcomplicate it.

Your job search should be a 40-hour a week activity. Put in the hours and make them count like you are going to the office. Open up a calendar, and block out chunks of time each day for the things you need to accomplish related to work, family, sleep, recreation, etc.

Remember to account for activities that take place in the margins—getting from one place to another, prep time, snooze buttons. These little transitions and disruptions we take for granted can quickly chip away your main blocks.

4. Organize your contacts

During a job search, you’ll collect names, numbers, addresses, and business cards at a rapid clip. Think ahead and have a plan for how you will capture what is important, so that you don’t get stuck with piles of emails or cards.  

I don’t think it matters if you use Outlook, Excel, Google Drive, SalesForce, LinkedIn, or a piece of paper. Just pick a system so you have a place to put things and know where to find them.

Ideally, your contacts will be accessible from your smart phone, since you may need to find a number or email while out and about. This is also a good opportunity to review your existing contacts to recall friends who can help you.

Organize your workspace, your computer, your time, and your contacts. Keep it simple, and do only what’s necessary so you can quickly get on with the real task at hand.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

Blasting applications out to as many openings as possible rarely results in a successful job search. Stop spamming your resume. Exhale. There is a better strategy that will land you a job faster.

I’ve heard it all too many times from people looking for work: “I sent out twenty resumes today!” Or, “I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs!”

Spamming your resume can feel really good. It keeps you busy and gives you a tangible metric to count.

Don’t fall for this false sense of accomplishment! Applying for jobs en masse does not increase your odds. In fact, it is often a complete waste of time that actually hurts you by prolonging the search and leading to discouragement.

So why is spamming your resume a bad idea?

The smell of desperation

Consider the dating scene. If you’re interested in starting a successful relationship, you’re not going to show up at a party and start asking out everyone you meet. The desperation will be obvious and off-putting. Your effort to be all things to everyone will result in becoming nothing interesting to anyone.

Likewise, prospective employers will get the same tepid impression if you conduct a resume blitz. Many people generalize their resume to make it appealing to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, this will result in a resume that’s bland and confusing—the exact opposite of what you need to get noticed by a hiring manager!

Technology has a way of accelerating both good and bad ideas. So if you have been spamming your resume because it is easy, stop. If you’re thinking about sending your generic resume over to a bunch of companies, this is not a good strategy. Don’t start. Save yourself the frustration.

Instead, try a different resume strategy. Follow these tips below to set yourself apart from other applicants.

1. Focus: Know what you want to do

You’ve got six seconds to capture the attention of a recruiter or hiring manager. How do you stand out in such a short amount of time? Make it easy for the reader. Be clear about what role you are looking for and why you are uniquely qualified.

If you don’t know exactly what you want to do, take a step back. Your new starting point isn’t sending out resumes, it’s figuring out your objective.

Once you know what you want to do, you can capture the reader’s attention quickly. Think about when you are shopping for groceries and you see a wall full of product options. What catches your eye? Likewise, how can you stand out from the pack? Market yourself like a product.

Use the Top Third Rule to focus your messaging. Clearly state what you are looking for and why a company should consider you. Use terms that will make sense to someone who does not know you, and that will align well with an open job.

2. Research: Know where you want to work

Less is more. Be selective. Research prospective companies and learn about what they do, what they’re looking for, and what it’s like to work there.

Read through the company’s website. Study their products and services. Check out news and reviews on sites like Glassdoor.com. Follow them on LinkedIn and see if you know anyone who works at the company.

• Think about proximity. Is the commute something you are willing to do?

 

• Think about the other people in your life. Would you move your family to take this job?

 

• Think beyond the first day on the job. Would you be excited about the idea of showing up to work for the next 3-5 years?

 

• Think about your career. Will this role and this company help take you in a direction you want to go?

 

• Think about the competition. Can you make a case for why the company should hire you over other qualified people? Where does this opportunity land on the job search bull’s eye?

 

If something doesn’t feel right, trust your gut to walk away. Don’t waste time on an option that’s not going to be a good fit, but try to create a Top 20 list of places where you might like to work. Your time is best spent cultivating relationships and pursuing opportunities connected with these specific targets.

Researching companies will help you in a couple of ways. You’ll waste less time applying with companies that aren’t a good fit, and doubling down on the companies that do fit will give you an edge—you’ll be that much more educated and informed and can customize your story better than the rest of the pack.

Integrate your research findings into your email intro or LinkedIn requests to demonstrate your knowledge and interest. On your resume, customize certain skills and experiences based on the company’s present needs and industry language.

3. Influence: Know who you know  

When it comes to the job search, the old saying is true, “It’s not what you know, but who you know that matters.” Who you know can give you a huge edge over the competition.

Once you have your target companies set, use LinkedIn to see who works there. If anyone in your network shows up in the search (or someone who can connect you), offer to buy them coffee or lunch. If possible, meet onsite at the company to gain extra insight and advantage. You’ll catch a glimpse of the culture and maybe even shake hands with the hiring manager.

The purpose of the meeting is not to ask for a job but to ask questions. Learn about the company culture, educate yourself on the industry, and discover possible career tracks for someone like you. Ideally, an employee can later forward your resume to the hiring manager directly.

Down the road, when you have an initial conversation with the hiring team, you can reference unique insight from your visit and mention the internal referral, a tremendous advantage. Employee referrals are always more valued and treated with higher regard than resumes spammed online.

4. Metrics: Know what matters

When assessing whether or not your week was a success, stop talking about how many resumes you’ve sent out. “Number of Resumes Sent” is not a good sign of your productivity.

I can send out 100 resumes in an afternoon, but that doesn’t mean my time was well spent. With a more focused approach, you might find you will send out only 1 or 2 resumes a day, but with much higher potential for success.

Rather than tracking how many resumes you send out, measure things that actually matter. Spamming your resume is not one of those things.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

We are all unique and wired differently. It’s one of the frustrating, funny, fascinating parts of life. This design gives the world a wonderful balance and variety. Yet this diversity also leads to tension, conflict, and other challenges when it comes time to understand and communicate with people different than you..

A greater self-awareness helps at work, at home, and during job interviews. The DISC assessment is a fantastic way to gain this practical insight. 

While we can learn and adapt, a certain amount of our personality is hard-wired. Your unique personality functions like a lens in which we view people, stress and the world around us.  When you learn to perceive the way you naturally interpret your circumstances, it’s like getting a job search secret decoder ring. You’ll be able to make sense of past work relationship struggles and identify the ideal job fit. You will also gain an interpersonal advantage for interviews. Sound interesting?

That powerful decoder ring is called the DISC Behavioral Personality Profile.

What is the DISC?
Over 50 million people have taken the DISC since the definitive version was established in 1972. Dr. William Moulton Marston is known for creating lie detectors, Wonder Woman, and the DISC. Quite the legacy. This multi-talented psychologist built on the work of Carl Jung and Greek philosophy in his 1928 book, Emotions of Normal People, which describes the DISC personality framework.

In 1950, another psychologist created an assessment based on Dr. Marston’s theories. The definitive version of the test was established in 1972 by Dr. John Geier, and since then over 50 million people around the world have taken the DISC.

Basically, the DISC assessment includes a series of brief multiple-choice questions answered in quick succession. The results include a robust personality description, summarized by four different personality types that make up the DISC acronym:

• Dominance
• Influence
• Steadiness
• Compliance

 

The DISC is not the only credible personality assessment out there (Myers-Briggs and StrengthsFinder are also common), but it is the most widely used. The DISC provides quick, practical value for your job search.

Love at first DISC

When I first heard about the DISC assessment 15 years ago during a leadership training course. Honestly, I was very skeptical. How could a quick online personality test figure me out? Me….a unique snowflake? 

But when I received the 20+ pages of results, I couldn’t believe it. I had to laugh. The assessment described me better than my wife and mom would have.  For the first time, I learned why some relationships and situations in my life went well and others did not.

That first DISC was nothing short of life-changing. I felt empowered by new awareness about how I communicate, what drives me, why I get frustrated, and how I can communicate better with people different than me.

Since then I have retaken the test a dozen times, with similar results validating its consistency. I have also worked with hundreds of people taking the DISC in the context of business, volunteer work, and marriage mentoring, with positive feedback all around. I highly recommended it – especially when embarking on a job search.

Why the DISC matters for your job search

Before you figure out where you want to go next, it’s important to reflect on your past experiences and understand how you are uniquely wired.

The DISC will help you accomplish this along with a number of other practical benefits:

• Decipher past relational conflict by recognizing underlying blind spots you may not have noticed at the time.

 

• Recognize the lens through which you see the world, people, situations, and certain things you value that others may not.

 

• Learn about what sort of job will suit you and feel like a natural fit.

 

• Stand out from the pack, equipped with new self-awareness useful in interview and professional conversations. Companies look for high IQ, but also high EQ (“emotional quotient”). They want people who work well as a team.

 

• Gain a practical, quick reference to help you understand how to communicate effectively with different personalities.

 

• Improve communication with friends and family.

 

• Set yourself up for early success in a new job as you meet and interact with new teammates

 

Take the DISC test for FREE

Have I convinced you yet? If you needed any more incentive to take the DISC for yourself, here’s the best part. It’s FREE!

You can find a variety of DISC assessments online, ranging from “free” to $250. I always paid around $200 per test over the years, but in recent years I’ve been seeing some cheap ($30) versions that produce a limited insight, not the full 20-page report you really want. Other versions do not include the Values/Motivators test, which I recommend as an important complement.

You are welcome to search for the option that looks best, but I have spent many hours reviewing and taking numerous online versions of the DISC. The best option I’ve found yet recommend is on Tony Robbin’s website. He offers the full DISC profile report and Values/Motivators test for free—a $250 value!

That’s a $250 value, with an intuitive web design that makes it easy and quick to take.  Upon completion, you can download the PDF results right away. The catch is, you will be added to Tony’s email list. You can remove yourself of course, but I’m a fan of his work, and the encouraging perspective he provides is great to have during a job search.

10 quick tips to make the most of your DISC

1) Make time. The test takes 15-20 minutes of uninterrupted time. Once you start, you need to push through to completion. The assessment requires quick responses in succession, and you can’t save your spot.

 

2) Don’t overthink it. Go with the first answer that comes to mind. Don’t linger on questions, even though you’ll find some answers can go either way. Just keep moving.

3) Be honest with yourself. The DISC won’t help you much if you don’t answer according to what you actually feel and who you actually are. You are doing this for yourself, not someone else.

4) There is no “good” or “bad” score. For you competitive types who try to win at everything, this isn’t a contest. Each person is unique and complex, and the point of the test is to simply tell it like it is.

5) Respond as your “natural” self. Answer like you would on evenings and weekends, outside of work hours. Think about how you want to operate, not how you needed to operate under the constraints of your “adapted self” of a prior job.

6) Think in scales, not absolutes. When presented with some options, think about which answer you typically prefer or lean toward. Don’t get caught up thinking about what you always or never do. Instead, respond based on what you tend to do. You’re describing generalities, not writing a definitive explanation of all of your behavior all of the time.

7) Don’t fear the box. Your personality profile does not limit your career options. You have the freedom to choose any path, of course. The DISC just provides a helpful baseline insight about your inclinations and an awareness of areas to work on and watch out for. An introvert can be a successful salesperson, and an extrovert can make a great accountant, but stepping into a role that requires adaptation will take extra energy each day.

8) Exercise empathy, not arrogance. We tend to think everyone should be just like us. Increased self-awareness does not give us a license to say, “Well, that’s just who I am, and you need to deal with it.” Such a perspective reveals arrogance, persistent blind spots, and communication failure. New insight should lead to more humble communication and increased empathy as we understand that people are different, our way is not the only way.

9) Play to your strengths. The DISC reveals areas of strength and weakness. The takeaway is not, “Go fix your shortcomings.” If that is your goal, you will end up stuck in mediocrity. Instead, double down on your strengths to maximize your career potential. Use your awareness to manage your blind spots, but don’t fixate on them.

10) Put it into action. Knowledge without action is bound to be forgotten, probably in a matter of days. Put your new knowledge into practice by discussing and applying the insight with a couple of people this next week. See how it works. Share your personality profile with a few close friends for additional feedback and insight.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

It’s a big world. Your ideal job may be at a company you’ve never even heard of. Learn how to do your research to discover and build a list of prospects.

Looking for a job is much easier if you know where you might want to work.

Most people have heard about a handful of companies in their city, but these big household names aren’t always the best fit. Take some time to learn what else is out there. Study the landscape and assess all of your options. In fact, give yourself two full days to complete this process. Finding a job is a full-time job, right?

It’s possible to do this research over weeks or a month, but if you can make it through the process in two days, you’ll get a quick win and build some strong momentum.

DAY ONE: Expand Your Perspective

The first day’s goal is to build your “Big List”, prospective companies where you’d like to work. Don’t worry about ranking anything at this stage. Just capture anything of potential interest—anywhere that would be a “yes” or “maybe”—and keep moving.

Build a spreadsheet

Before you dig in, start a spreadsheet to help you create order in the chaos.

Create a spreadsheet including at least these key columns—and more, if you’d like:

• Company name
• Address
• Website
• Next step
• Notes

 

Duplicate this format on three separate tabs: The Dozen List, The Big List, and The Backburner. This will help you keep all of your info in one place, and you can easily promote or downgrade a company from tab to tab, based on what you learn and experience along the way. Download Target Company Tracker spreadsheet (Excel).

Any company that catches your interest starts on the Big List. If you really like them, move them to the Dozen List. If you change your mind about a company, or if it turns out to be a poor fit, move it to the Backburner as a record of past research.

Now you’re ready to collect information.

Scour the Book of Lists

Check out your local Business Journal. They publish an annual Book of Lists, which will cost you about $60 to order, or you can check it out for free at the local library.

In the Book of Lists, you’ll find the areas top public companies, top private companies, fastest-growing companies, and the top companies in each industry. Look up each company’s website and see if any catch your attention.

Follow the money

Companies that receive funding are in high-growth stage and hiring, though they may be relatively unknown by the general public and undiscovered by the average job seeker.

If you are interested in startup companies, look up local venture capital firms and check out their portfolios. Also, Crunchbase.com is a free website that allows you to search and sort companies funded in your area.

Many midsize companies receive private equity for growth. Google “private equity firm” and your city or region name to see what comes up, either for firms or for portfolio investments in your area (many invest from out of town).

Think by industry

Each industry typically publishes awards and a list of notable performers, another great place for ideas. Also, check out various industry associations. Review the membership directory of any associations you may belong to, and then look these folks up on LinkedIn or Facebook to find out where they work.

Leverage social media

Review your contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook for inspiration and ideas of companies in your area. The Internet will also come in handy when the time comes to find contacts inside your target companies.

Hit the job boards (but don’t apply yet)

During the research stage of the job search journey, focus on identifying target companies. Until you know what you want to do and where you want to do it, applying for random jobs with random companies is just a waste of time. That said, sites like Indeed.com and LinkedIn Jobs are helpful information sources.

Even though you’re not ready to apply, do pay attention to any job descriptions that stand out. Copy and paste notable sections into your notes for particular companies.

Ask a librarian

I know this sounds old school, but your tax dollars pay for well-educated public librarians who really know how to find information. Plus, they have resources beyond what you can access online. Make a copy of industry directories or key information they find, and then research more at home.

By the end of the day, you might have 50, 100, or even 200 potential companies. It’s OK to make a big list. Don’t worry whether or not a company has any relevant job postings on their website. Not all jobs are listed, and you never know what could be coming up in next few months.

 

Take time to study the job landscape and assess all of your options before applying.

In my follow-up article, I’ll walk you through Day Two and how to narrow your options to a shortlist of a dozen solid prospects.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

The Dozen List is a key part of your job search. After you expand your perspective to identify as many prospects as possible, now its time to narrow your focus.

So, “Where do you want to work?”

That’s the second-most important question on a job search—right behind, “What do you want to do?” It’s important to decide where you want to work.

It takes two full days to research and identify a handful of places where you’d consider spending the majority of your waking hours. Day one is to expand your perspective. Day two is to narrow your focus.

DAY TWO: Narrow your focus

Yesterday, you identified a Big List of maybe 50–100 prospective companies. Now it’s time to whittle those options down to the Dozen List. Like a game of corporate Survivor where you’re choosing the contestants, here’s how to pair down the competition and find your winners:

1. Build your criteria

Create a list of required and preferred attributes you’re looking for in a company. Your unpacking list will be a helpful source of ideas. If you’re honest, your list of preferences should be longer than your list of requirements—three key areas at most.

2. Screen for requirements

Scan through your big list and look for any companies that obviously don’t meet your three requirements. Move them down a tier. Hopefully, this will take care of about half your list, leaving more time for evaluating the higher potential targets.

3. Screen for preferences

Of the remaining companies, which ones match with the most items on your list of preferred criteria? Move these companies up a tier for further evaluation.

4. Read up online

Visit each company’s website. Review their products and services. How do they make money? What is their competitive advantage? Look for core values, a careers page, and any other culture indicators. Read any leadership bios, press releases, and other documentation.

Look up each company on Glassdoor.com. Glassdoor provides honest and authentic feedback about companies, written by current and past employees, like TripAdvisor for travel or Yelp for restaurants. This site is controversial because of the potential for negative bias. Happy employees may not take the time to post on Glassdoor, whereas people who were fired or didn’t fit the culture may have an ax to grind.

Search each company on Google. What do the first few pages of articles talk about? Hoovers.com is another good source of information on larger companies.

The second-most important question of any job search: Where do you want to work?

A few common mistakes

You might find that brainstorming and creating a large list was easier than narrowing it down to twelve. Beware of these common mistakes that could derail your effort.

1. Don’t rush to judgment

If you’re a quick decision-maker, emotions about each company might come quickly. Trust your gut instincts, as they are typically right, but take a little extra time to verify with some facts.

Your initial excitement about a company might change after due diligence reveals information that causes you to pause. On the other hand, you might feel a neutral or negative first impression, based on a company’s reputation or a product or service, but some quick research could reveal more to the story and suggest that the company is worth consideration after all. Keep an open mind.

2. Don’t overthink it.

If you’re a slow, methodical decision maker, you might overthink the list-making process. Deep analysis is good and better than less, but don’t overcomplicate your research by adding ten criteria and a complicated ranking system. If you arrive at the end of day two without any clear winners, go back and adjust the numbers to get the results you want. Funny how that works, huh?

3. Don’t forget the B-list

Once you’ve established the Dozen List, don’t toss your Big List. Companies will move up and down your list, and in and out of your top twelve, as you apply for jobs, interview, meet people and learn what’s out there. That’s why it’s important to keep all of your company research and notes in a single place in your Target Company Tracker (PDF / Excel / Google Sheet).

Your Dozen List is not written in stone, but it will help you focus your job search and achieve faster results.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips

Most people drift through their job search, looking for an employer to give them a vision for their career. If you know where you are and where you want to go, this will separate you from the pack.

Identifying your career goals is very helpful and focusing, but a checklist of ideal job criteria alone will not engage your emotions or inspire you. Visualize your next job to stir your mind and heart at a deeper level, and mentally prepare yourself to work at your ideal job.

What is visualization?

I have seen the concept of “visualization” used in both healthy and unhealthy ways. 

Visualization IS NOT “believe it and achieve it” or “name it and claim it.” These philosophies tell you that you can do anything by just setting your mind to it. Sounds exciting, but accomplishment also requires hard work and doing your part.

Visualization IS a mental rehearsal to help you focus on the specific goal you have in mind. Visualization makes it more real, tangible, and something you can see yourself doing successfully.

The key to success?

Elite athletes visualize. Seasoned competitors use vivid, highly detailed mental images and run-throughs of their performance. This means engaging all the senses in your mind. Soviet Olympians popularized the practice in the 1970s. Tiger Woods has used visualization since early in his career. World champion golfer, Jack Nicklaus has said, “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head”.

Famous actors visualize. Before anybody knew about him, actor Jim Carrey would sit each night in his car off Muholland Drive and visualize becoming a Hollywood star. He even wrote himself a $10 million check for a movie deal, and post-dated it five years in the future. Guess what happened? Not long before that date came along, he landed $10 million to star in Dumb and Dumber.

Effective businesspeople visualize. Many business leaders will visualize a vivid future for their company, including key moments that will drive and inspire them towards that goal. Visualizing a successful client meeting or delivering a successful speech has a way of helping you live in that future state which you expect. Entrepreneur Tim Ferris takes the process a step further. “I constantly visualize,” he says. “I will review video of top performers . . . right before going to bed, and then I will end up visualizing, or dreaming oftentimes, about those skills. That’s a very consistent practice of mine.”

Successful job seekers visualize. Creating a vivid and realistic image of that next job activates our subconscious. In a sense, we begin to believe it has already happened. When we feel at peace in this future reality, our brain begins to believe that we will be successful. This motivates us to turn our vision into reality. This belief that we’re already there (while just in our mind) is projected to others, which can come across as healthy confidence and being fit for the job.

5 quick tips for successful visualization

1. Create a detailed mental experience

First thing in the morning (or late at night), sit up straight and close your eyes. Imagine you are already working in your next ideal job. Mentally rehearse that moment as if it were happening right now. Engage with all of your senses. Where are you sitting? Who are you talking with? What issue are you discussing? What are you wearing? What does the office look like? Do you smell anything? What do you hear? What are you feeling?

The power in visualization is believing you already have the thing you want. It’s more than simply hoping to achieve it someday. You live and experience the moment as if it were real right now.

While you know this is a mental trick, your subconscious mind, which doesn’t recognize the difference so easily, has a way of focusing thoughts and beliefs in this future state. This method helps change your beliefs, assumptions, and opinions.

2. Practice the Day One mindset

Visualization is also a powerful tool when it comes to interviews. You can interview like you are showing up for the first day of work (“Day One”) at the company. This attitude comes across positively during the interview because it creates a sense within the interviewer that the candidate already fits the company and belongs on the team.

3. Eliminate negative doubts

Your mind might battle your future vision, injecting doubts, fears, or unbelief. Push back and get rid of the negative self-talk. This may seem odd at first, and your mind can drift, but visualization will feel more normal with practice.

4. Repeat positive affirmations

Tell yourself what you want to believe. For example,  “I am loved and my family regardless of my work.” Or, “I am strong and courageous.” Or, “I am successful.” Or, “I am a great product manager who delivers great work that delights the customer.”

5. Post a picture

Remind yourself of your visualized future with an image, picture, or collage somewhere in your home where you’ll see it each day. Images have a way of moving us more than words.

 

For more helpful job search tips: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips