Ease Back Into Your Job Search

Keeping an open mind to new career opportunities, even when you are already employed, is key to lasting satisfaction and advancement in your professional life. The challenge, however, is that a job search requires time, energy and a baseline knowledge of the latest recruiting trends and technologies.

If you have been out of the game for a while, you may feel overwhelmed at the idea of diving back into an active search. Fortunately, there are ways to ease yourself into the process, without sacrificing your productivity or engagement at your current job.

FIRST STEPS

Besides getting your resume up to date, the key to easing into and walking through a stress-free job search is to focus on preparation first. It is important to know the positions and companies that you want to target, and if you are unsure what those are, start by doing preliminary research. Once you know your focus, you can update your resume and LinkedIn profile to align with the vision you have for the next step in your career.

SHARING

Share with friends and family that you are considering a transition. It might seem premature or scary, but you can be clear that you are in the preliminary stages of your search. Be sure to talk with people who are open to change and possibility to keep yourself motivated for your search. These conversations can help you brainstorm ideas for next steps and get the word out that you are looking for a job.

CLARIFY

If you are considering a change, this is an opportunity to revisit your personal vision and values and determine what brings you joy, what you can are great at, what pays your bills and what is aligned with your values. Doing this homework up front will allow you to determine where to focus your job search to land a role where you can thrive.

COMMIT

Set aside 30 minutes every day to work on your job search. You can email old or current contacts, use LinkedIn’s many job search and networking features or check out job boards you like. You can do this on your lunch hour or during a break. Technology makes today’s job search more manageable while juggling a heavy workload at the same time.

CONNECT

Confidential career coaching while employed should reduce your time in trial and error. In some cases, people who start searching for a new job while employed make simple, noticeable mistakes that can create a problem at their current job by creating an alarm in your current employer’s mind about your level of engagement. A career coach protects your confidentiality, providing a stealthy search.

LinkedIn

Updating your LinkedIn Profile and turning on the Job Seeker feature will allow you to start the process without a major commitment of time. You can search for positions, start connecting with people virtually and see what is out in the marketplace. As you are ready, you can move into being more proactive and turn those virtual connections into in-person networking opportunities.

JOB ALERTS

So many great sites have automation to assist you in your job search. A great way to get started is to have an updated resume and LinkedIn profile and put them on your job board of choice. From there you can set up alerts to your specifications that are sent to your email. This will allow you the time to view only jobs that you are targeting, which reduces your search time.

Brush Up On Your Interview Answers

Practice answering all the basic interview questions you believe you will be asked before writing a resume or updating your LinkedIn profile, because if your experience is marketable, it is too late to practice after you have started submitting your resume to your network or for jobs. Do not make the mistake of not practicing. Get to work on rehearsing answers now so you do not miss out on jobs.

Offline Networking

One of the best ways to ramp up a job search is to expand your in-person networking. Join a trade association or industry-related group, or volunteer if you have the time. All these activities will pay dividends, as people who hear of you through these venues will be more ready to seriously consider you as a candidate. Best of all, you might even be directly recruited as a result.

Talk to Recruiters

Treat your job search as a side hustle. Assess the market by talking with one or two recruiters. Since you have not done it in a while, it will be good to get some practice. Then, set aside the amount of time you are willing to invest in a job search. Once you budget your time, it is easier to say no to companies that are not worth your time.

It all starts with your resume, so if you would like a free analysis and constructive criticism, send me a copy of your current resume, and I would be happy to analyze it free and show you how to avoid common failure points and how to correct them. Just send it to: richardfruscione@hotmail.com

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