What is job hunting? It can be irritating, confusing, upsetting, tough and all that and more. But over all is only one thing and that's work. Yes, its work.
Too often, the job hunter gets down on the process. They dislike networking, they uploaded their CV on over 200 job sites and no calls, they applied for dozens of positions and no reaction, LinkedIn is simply too difficult and the reasons and justifications just pile up and get more imaginative.
Jobs do not go out and find people who are unemployed. That's why it's termed a "hunt" or "search." To conduct a successful job search you have to be imaginative, do some research, and above all be an adventurer. And you have to acknowledge that job hunting is labor.
You are in charge of a significant undertaking, and that's to find you a job; the right job. In efficiently managing any project you have to make use of a variety of tools. Job search tools include: A job hunting plan with actions you'll do every day and every week; the creating of the best possible marketing materials, resume, cover letter, prospecting letters and others; interviewing preparation; a daily effort to add to your networking group; and the research required to keep the project moving forward.
A job hunting plan does not sprout out of thin air, nor can it be cobbled together in one afternoon. For example, as you learn more about creating a compelling resume, your resume may go through dozens of changes. Even then you're not finished as a good technique is to write your resume to match as closely as feasible the needs of the prospective company.
In the course of building your job hunting plan you'll have to make decisions on where you want to work, how long a commute is acceptable, do you need to add to your skills and how is this going to happen, if you are starting over do you also need to find a part-time job, and is self-employment an option.
The rewards of a good job search can set you up for the rest of your life. So the results of an effective job hunt are tough to dispute. Yet for a variety of reasons many job hunts drag on for much too long. And when a job is found it is barely tolerable.
Here's the standard you should aim towards. You're in a job interview and are asked the question, "Please describe what you do in average day and week in your job hunt?"
Do you think you'd be employed if you claimed, "I placed my resume on 85 job looking sites on Monday and the rest of the week I stayed close to the phone."
How about this truthful answer, "I have a job hunting plan where I outline my activity every day. I apply for applicable positions, I make follow-up phone calls, I do some networking every day, I attend job fairs and subscribe to a job looking support group, I research probable employers and I do some work on interview preparation. At the end of the week I compare my efforts with my plan-which I usually exceed every week- and change my strategy for the following week. There are other things I do, including helping others get jobs and fine tune their job hunting plans, and further research, I'm learning something new every day." And they added,"Keeping in shape is crucial therefore I find time to go to the gym three or more times a week."
If you were the hiring manager who would you hire?
Working hard every day on your job search should mirror what you would do for the employer. And isn't this what you are attempting to get across in the job interview?
