Get Ready To Find Your Next Job

Bill Warner Monday, April 20, 2009

With the unemployment rate continuing to rise I am meeting more and more people who are looking for their next opportunity. Unfortunately, many are nowhere near ready to actually approach an employer. I see people who have not really thought through what they want to do next, assessed their strengths and determined where they would best fit, written an effective resume, and cannot answer the simplest of questions about the value they bring to the table. With so many people on the job market, only the best of the best are going to land any jobs that might be available.

Tips that might help

Here are some tips on what to do to be ready for your job search:

  • Smell the coffee – First, take a breather after leaving your last job. You have worked hard; now it’s time to decompress. It’s time to gather your thoughts and get over any lingering frustration about losing your job. You need a clear mind to think about the future.
  • Assess yourself – Do a full assessment of your strengths and weaknesses to determine what the basis is for your value proposition. Yes, you are marketing yourself in this process, so you need to determine what your value proposition is as you sell yourself to a potential employer. So, write down what your personal value proposition is.
  • Determine fit – Determine what your best fit might be for your next opportunity. Are you a big organization kind of person? Do you work in start-ups? What roles will you be best suited for in whatever sized company and industry you will be pursuing? Answer these questions helps you narrow down what kind of opportunities you intend to chase.
  • Establish family priorities – Talk to your family once you have figured out your value proposition and best fit alternatives. Get an understanding of the limits that your family has for your job search. Are they willing to move? Are they willing to get less money? Are they willing to see you travel a lot? Get their buy-in to the kind of job search you intend to undertake. Surprises are not a good thing. Hey Honey! We are moving to Boston!
  • Prepare your resume – Write a results-oriented resume. Employers want to know what your objective is and what results you have achieved in previous jobs. I stress results; not just simple statements of what you worked on. You sold products. Well, how much? You created marketing programs. Well, how many leads did it generate? You increased revenue or profit. Well, by how much? Employers want to know what you got done, not so much what you did.
  • Network – Get out of your house and voraciously meet people. Use your contacts to give you referrals to people you need to meet that might know about new job opportunities. Yes, this is networking with a purpose. Go to important networking events and meet companies. Make contacts with professional services firms that might know about job opportunities that are arising with their clients; like, attorneys, accountants, HR firms and business consultants. Make yourself known to search and staffing firms.
  • Determine targets – Do enough research that you have a list of companies that you want to pursue. Use your contacts to possibly give you referrals to people inside the company. So, when asking a business associate for help, you are not taking a thoughtless approach of simply asking them what opportunities they see. Instead, you are telling them that you are chasing a specific opportunity and you want them to help with a referral. You get a lot more help that way, by showing that you have done your homework.
  • Market your resume – Don’t send a resume into the blue sky. Instead, send resumes to targeted companies that you have researched, where you customize your cover letter and follow up with phone calls to inquire about openings.
  • Use the Web – Do make a habit of following the major job boards on the Web. Use Linked-In to make yourself known to your network. Overall, use the power of the web to learn about opportunities and to market yourself.
  • Practice your story – You need to clearly state your value proposition, what a best fit opportunity is for you, why you left your last job, what you are looking for next and your excitement about taking this next step in your career. These points have to roll off your tongue with enthusiasm, commitment and integrity.

Hunt with a purpose

The hunt for a new job is a major undertaking. Take it as seriously as you would take launching a new product or service in your last company. You need a well thought out marketing program that generates new opportunities that are right for you and then sell yourself into those opportunities using solid sales technique and know-how.

Filed Under: Business Operations, Raleigh Happenings, Starting a Business



Bill Warner is the Managing Partner of Paladin and Associates, a business consulting firm in the Research Triangle Park area of central North Carolina, and is the Chairman of the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an angel investor network with over one hundred members throughout the southeast.

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