Job Search Strategy
Job Search Strategy
As a retained executive search firm, we get hired for very specific leadership roles for our clients. While we don’t help people find jobs, we want to be a helpful resource for those in job transition. Below is a collection of job search article links and resources.
** Read these articles in order. Why? The content is crafted in a way that builds upon prior sections. This system is proven, but it requires you to take a step back before going forward. Most of the challenges in a job search is getting focus and clarity. Your resume and interview strategy success depend on gaining clarity on where you are today and where you want to go next in your career.
This insight is developed from working on the front lines of hiring for 20+ years working with for 400+ clients and reviewing resumes of tens of thousands of candidates.
In other words, these are proven recruiter insider tips on how you can stand out from the pack and land that next job you want.
1. PREPARATION // Are you ready?
- Get recharged. Invest 24 hours to rest, exercise, and do things that clear your head and give you energy. Laugh.
- Check your dashboard indicators. Remember the big picture and assess what you could be learning during the job search. Appreciate your blessings, take responsibility for your life, and forgive others so you can move forward.
- Get organized. Clear out clutter and get your workspace, computer, calendar, and contacts in order. Create folders and a spreadsheet to track your job search.
- Don’t apply anywhere right away. A quick and successful job search requires a focused strategy. Exhale. Trust this proven process and don’t spam your resume.
2. STARTING POINT // Where are you now?
- Know your personality. Take a quick personality assessment online (DISC, Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinder) for added insight on what makes you unique and what drives you.
- Get wisdom. Share what you been learning with trusted friends, family and past co-workers. Ask for authentic feedback from those who know you best.
- Unpack your career. Evaluate past experience to determine what you want to continue doing (or not) in the future. Create a checklist of criteria for your next job, including: Title, location, compensation, culture, and professional development areas. Download Unpack Your Career worksheet (PDF).
3. IDEAL DESTINATION // Where do you want to go next?
- Expand your perspective. Open your mind to the many options and create a “Big List” of companies you would be interested in exploring further. Download Target Company Tracker worksheet.
- Narrow your focus. Identify the industries, companies and role(s) that interest you most. Narrow your big list down to a top dozen target companies. Aim smart at where you target your job search.
- Visualize your ideal destination. Think about where you’d like to be down the road in your next job. Visit someone actually doing a similar job to gain inspiration and focus.
4. BE DIFFERENT // What’s your story and how can you stand out from the pack?
- Update your resume. Now that you know where you are and where you are going, your resume will be more clear and effective. Update your Linkedin profile to match. Spice it up with some personality and use action words. Download your free PDF “The Resume Template” 36-page resume best practice guide.
- Research your network. Who do you know? Find connections at the companies where you want to work. Look for an angle, and a way to stand out to help give you an edge over other candidates. Upgrade your LinkedIn profile (download LinkedIn Tips PDF).
- Ask for help. Tell your friends, family and social networks how they can help you with your search. This can lead to great referrals.
- Rehearse interviews. Practice and make mistakes with friends instead of a future boss. Be ready for the two questions you’ll get asked at every interview. Develop case study stories to describe your prior roles and accomplishments. Use the Rule of 3 technique.
5. GET ROLLING // How do you land the job?
- Email your resume. Now you’re ready to apply for jobs and send your resume to targeted companies. You can skip the cover letter.
- Track your weekly progress and success. Measure things you can control to keep you on track and moving forward. Download your weekly success tracking template.
- Negotiate your offer. Learn a few insider tips to land the best offer. Provide references if requested.
- Say “Thank You”. Remember to follow-up with all of the people who helped you along the way. If you are still employed, finish strong and give notice professionally.
Gather Your Courage and Get Wisdom
A job change can be humbling. You will likely feel the urge to retreat and go it alone. But this slows down your success and prevents insight on things you could learn that will help you for many years. Other people confirm, or challenge, our assumptions which leads to better outcomes. Wisdom is waiting for…
100 Action Words For Your Resume
A resume is supposed to be a career highlight reel, but most sound boring. Inject some life into your resume by peppering it with a variety of active words. Variety is a key component of dynamic content. Don’t use the same verb more than once to describe your accomplishments. This can be tricky, so for inspiration,…
Aim Smart When Targeting A New Job
Bull’s eye! I have a dartboard in my man-cave where my buddies and I play. In darts, sometimes you need to hit the bull’s eye to win, but occasionally it’s the next ring out, like #17 or #19. It’s helpful to think about your job search the same way, as you decide which roles to…
The Right Way To Handle References
When a company asks for your references, it’s often the last step in the screening process before receiving an offer. As long as you verify with your contacts, and as long as you have been truthful in your resume and interviews, the reference check should be a non-event. You are on the homestretch. This finish…
Should I Send A Cover Letter?
You may feel your cover letter is a beautiful thing with just the right words, tone, and customized message. I hate to break it to you, but it’s a waste of time. The truth is, most recruiters ignore cover letters. Even if the cover letter is a relic of the past, however, that doesn’t mean…
Stumped in an Interview? Answer With “3 Things”
So let’s imagine being in an interview. You get asked a challenging, open-ended question, such as “What makes you different as a Financial Analyst?” Or, “On that product launch you just described, what did you learn?” How do you reply when you are not sure what to say next? I’m going to share a fun…
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How To Give Notice
If you land a new job while currently employed, you need to break up with your current employer. I know this is uncomfortable, but don’t make it worse than it has to be. Give notice well, and the transition can be respectful and professional instead of feeling like an awkward, junior high break-up. Whether you…
Thank You: The Last Step In Your Job Search
A job search reminds us that we need each other. It’s all but impossible to land a good gig without some help along the way. Some resume feedback here. An inside connection there. A word of encouragement at just the right time. Once you finally step onto that new job stage and accept your offer,…
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10 Steps To Negotiate a Job Offer
How would you like to land an easy $1–10K in salary for the same job? That’s the power of negotiating on your job offer, one of the most misunderstood steps in the job search process. I have helped hundreds of candidates negotiate job offers in my career as a recruiter. A lot of misperceptions and…
4 Ways To Measure Job Search Progress
THE BIG IDEA: Track what matters in your job search: personal meetings, target companies, hours worked, and positive deposits. The best way to get totally frustrated in your job search is to stress about things you can’t control. No matter how long you stare at your phone, you can’t make a company call you back,…
Email Your Resume Like a Pro
First impressions matter. When does the first impression begin on your job search? At the interview? On your resume? Both are important, but the process usually begins with an email. In this post, learn how to email your resume like a pro by recognizing–and fixing–common mistakes. Your resume is a valuable letter, and your email…
Turn Your Job Experience Into a Case Study
“Facts tell, but stories sell.” This saying is especially true in a job search if you want to catch the attention of a company. You want the interviewer to think, “Wow. I love that story and what you accomplished. That is the kind of thing we need someone to do for us too! Good resumes…
2 Job Interview Questions You Will Get Every Time
All job interviews include two particular questions. Every time. Crafting great answers to these two questions is the best interview prep you can do. If you can answer the questions with crisp, focused responses, you will definitely stand out from the pack. Don’t be surprised. Be ready. When helping friends prep for interviews, I’m amazed…
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10 Tips To Ace Your In-Person Interview
We’d like to invite you to meet the team to talk about the role. It’s great to hear those words! Most companies won’t take the time to bring someone in for an in-person interview unless there is genuine interest. This article will help you maximize the opportunity. As a reminder, the in-person interview is like…
How To Ask Your Friends For Job Search Help
Your friends want to help you find a job, but most don’t know how. They’ll meet you for coffee, give you some encouragement, and maybe even connect you with a company or colleague. Here are three things you can do to explain to your friends how they can help you. — Can you spot what’s…
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LinkedIn Hacks to Help Your Research
You’re looking for a new job. You’ve unpacked your career and made some progress researching target companies. Once you determine where you might like to work, connecting with someone on the inside can give you a huge advantage. How do you figure out who works where you want to work? At this point, you can…
Add Personality to Your Resume
“Don’t include anything personal on your resume.” This advice has been floating around for years, and I speak from two decades of experience that it’s flat out wrong. Hiring managers really like seeing some personality and insight beyond the skills list. I’ve seen many examples of how resume personality was the difference maker between equally…
Know The Six Second Resume Rule
Hold your breath and slowly count to six in your head. Six to seven seconds. That is the average time most resumes get reviewed before a recruiter makes a decision whether the candidate could be a fit for a role or not. After reviewing at least 50,000 resumes in my career, I would agree with…
The Power of Visualization on a Job Search
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…
Create Your Target Job Shortlist
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…
What Jobs are Out There?
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…
Unpack Your Career to Start Your Job Search
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…
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Your DISC Personality Profile
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…
Stop Spamming Your Resume
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…
Get Organized to Get Hired
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…
Check Your 7 Job Search Dashboard Indicators
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…
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24 Ways to Get Recharged in 24 Hours
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 agood place. Going through a job change can trigger all kinds of difficult emotions. Anxiety, fear, shame, anger,…
For the Candidate: 7 Tips to Shine in the Eyes of Your Recruiter
Looking for a new job is full of challenges all of which can be distilled to one essential struggle: making yourself stand out to recruiters. Even the most technically qualified candidate still has to impress a recruiter who is likely already inundated with nearly identical resumes. Keep reading for seven tips to help catch the…
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