Figuring out the strategy

In the previous post of this series we wrote about one of the job hunting related courses offered by LinkedIn Learning called “Managing your Career” which covers the basics of starting a job search. Now it’s time to figure out a strategy.

The brilliantly concise video “Job Search Strategies” offers a comprehensive guide to topics ranging from online tools to manage the job search, your online presence and searching for a job on the Internet over to networking and headhunters.

Key highlights of this 40-minute course:

  • 80/20 principle: to quote the words of Valerie Sutton speaking in the video: “most people approach the job search by looking for jobs online and applying to them haphazardly”. In order to be more effective, try to switch that perspective and focus on reaching out the people to discover unpublished positions
  • your virtual search: direct contact with decision makers, headhunters and networking are very important, but you want to activate all channels of contacting potential employers. Therefore you cannot forget about job ads (even at the executive level). Our own statistics from 2017 show that 10% of our clients accepted job offers generated by online ads. It may not be an overwhelmingly large number, but what if you will happen to land in that 10%
  • visibility: make it easy for people to recognize you and think of you as an expert in your field. You can achieve it by blogging, speaking at conferences and being active in professional associations. This way you will create a good first impression before a recruiter or potential employer will even get to judge you during a face to face meeting
  • tracking tool: you start to send out CVs and reach out to people and suddenly you have to deal with (hopefully) hundreds of emails in your inbox and incoming calls. Unless you have photographic memory you are very likely to get lost in this maze. Keep it organized and tidy and come up with a tool which will help you keep track of your correspondence

Learn more about that and more by watching the video here.

Are you unsure of how to maneuver between different forms of contacting potential employers? Maybe you don’t know how to set up an all-inclusive strategy for your job search and would like to talk about it confidentially during a free 45-minute career consultation? To schedule one, send an email to Bichl.Sandra@CareerAngels.eu or simply click here.