Strategic Job Hunting Guide for Young & Experienced Professionals
By: Ifeadi Anigbogu
Have you been struggling to get a good job without success?
If this is your story, drag a seat, let's talk about some tips that work like magic. But, first things first, if you are looking for work, know that you have to work hard to find it.
Here are 10 strategic things to do to get a job;
- Know exactly what you want to achieve. Start with defined goals and organized plans of action.
- Plans for action should include: detailed professional profile, a career path, personal branding, professional development plan, a well written CV, an adaptable cover letter, an optimized LinkedIn profile and a healthy professional network. Be ready to fire out applications to jobs that match your profile with a well written CV and concise cover note/letter. If you need help writing a winning CV, read my CV and Resume writing guide here: https://lnkd.in/d--DGuy
- Create a professional LinkedIn profile with a professional headshot and a simple summary of your professional profile. Use the LinkedIn headline to showcase your strongest skills, this helps your profile appear in searches. When recruiters search for people with specific skills or experience, your profile pops up and they can contact you directly.
- Armed with well articulated goals, write down 40 companies where you would like to work, start combing through and applying to them. Every week, take 10 of the 40 identified companies and comb through them inside and out. Identify their websites, follow their career updates. Follow their social media pages for news, updates and job postings.
- If you are employed but seeking a move, when your work hours are over, spend quality time working on your planned career move. If you are in between jobs and actively searching, your job hunting is your job of the moment, that's your office all day until your goals are met. From the moment you wake up, clean up, dress up and get to work. Work tirelessly until close of business hours. Job hunting is a full time job on it's own, treat it as one.
- After 4 weeks of combing through your list of top 40 companies, you are able to seperate your list into segments i.e those with easier barriers to entry and those with higher barriers to entry. Armed with knowledge of what you need to get into those companies, you are able to strategize effectively. Since methods of getting a job in company A may differ from company B, you become better equipped to make decisions on how to channel your applications to get results. You will also be able to determine if you need to drop some organisations from your list or add new ones. The cycle is continuous, so don't stop.
- Ask your friends and family if they know people at those companies who can put you forward for a job. Follow employees of the identified companies on LinkedIn. From time to time, reach out and ask questions about the organisation and express interest in joining their organisation. Ask for help on the best ways to get in there.
- Set up job alerts on LinkedIn to know when organisations post jobs that match your profile. To do this, click the Jobs icon on top of your screen, go to 'Manage Alerts' to customize how you are notified about jobs. You can set up alerts for specific companies, specific roles or specific locations.
- Next, grow your LinkedIn network with peers and senior professionals in your career line. Networking is key. Populate your network with thousands of HR professionals and Recruiters too. A lot of them post authentic jobs and share tips for career success. Grow your LinkedIn network count by at least 500 to 1000 quality connections monthly. Follow pages and websites of HR & recruitment consulting companies to know when they are hiring for clients and job roles that interest you.
- Grow your professional network offline too. Get a career mentor. Get to know people and get known by other professionals. Ever wondered why you have no one to talk to about your job search? It is because you do not have a robust professional network. Build your network by connecting to quality people and other professionals in your career line. Attend corporate events, go for business breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings, make new work/business friends and acquaintances.
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Always remember, if you are out of job and actively looking, job hunting remains your full time job until you find your dream job. If you are employed and actively looking, make out quality time to work on your personal goals. There is no room to slack. Stay focused.
Do you find this article interesting or have something more to add? Please let me know your thoughts below. Do you know someone who needs to see this? Please tag them and reshare so we can reach more people to learn how to proactively find their dream jobs.
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Ifeadi Anigbogu is a senior professional in People Management, Management Consulting and Human Resources Consulting. She is an international speaker, a writer, a content creator, a career and business success Coach.
You can reach her on LinkedIn here.
