Yesterday I posted 21 Surprising Ways To Waste Time In Your Job Search. It’s easy to see a list like that and then wonder “okay, what should I be doing then??” That post is incomplete… it needs a complementary post which says “here’s what you should do.”
The problem is that the “should do” could vary based on your location, industry, level, background, experience, etc. But the bottom line is that there are certain principles you can apply to the successful job search. Many of them tie into networking, relationships, follow-up, persistence, having a good attitude, having correct branding, etc.
I’ve said many times that if I were to start a job search today, 90% of my time would be spent on informational interviews (you can watch my Informational Interview course free on Pluralsight). Doing informational interviews correctly involves networking, branding, persistence, follow-up, etc.
Using JibberJobber to track, know where you are at, follow-up, etc. would also be a part of a principle-based job search.
Having a schedule, and daily grooming, could be part of a principle-based job search.
Spending a lot of time on job boards, applying like everyone else is, is not part of a principle-based job search.
The problem with listing things that are part of a principle-based job search is that they all look very cliche. You would look at them and think it’s more of the same… but many things that are principle-based look cliche. They trick is putting them into practice, consistently over time. Create a system and then work the system. A professional speaker (Kathy Loveless) once said “create the system and honor the system.” Same idea.
Folks, my job search system was anything but principled. I invite you to list the things you do in your job search, eliminate the stuff from yesterday’s post, and then figure out if the rest are like comfort foods… there to just make you feel better, or if they are really things that will help you get an interview. Don’t hide from the real job search by doing the comfort-food activities… they might make you feel better, but if they don’t get you closer to employed, ditch them (or do them after hours).