Carla is a smart gal. (Actually, her real name isn't Carla, I'm protecting her identity.) I've known her for years. She's logical, patient and consistent. She's well-organized too. Unfortunately, she got laid off recently. Actually, over 10% of her company's workforce was let go. So, the good news is she's not taking it personally. However, when I asked her how the job search was going, I was disappointed to hear her response:
"Well, I haven't gotten very far. I got on the internet and looked at job postings, but I stopped doing that because nothing really caught my eye. Also, I've been struggling with the best way to update my resume. To be honest, I'm just not sure what I want to do next."
I said to her, "Wow. So it's like you're riding a bicycle blindfolded?"
"A what?" she replied? I explained...
"You are standing over the bike because you have no idea where you are going and you can't see what direction to head in. However, when you want to feel like you are moving, you opt to ride in circles, expending all your energy but not moving forward so that you don't make a wrong turn or get in an accident....and it makes you dizzy."
Job Seekers: There Are Steps You Must Consider (Do you know them all?)
Job searching is like a road trip - to get there quicker and with fewer problems, one must identify a specific destination to reach AND all the milestones that must be passed along the way. Many job seekers in this economy may not realize there is a sequential set of steps that need to be completed on the journey to a new job. Actually, there are 10 of them.
10 Key Steps to a Successful Job Search
Carla needed the 10 Key Steps to a Successful Job Search. She needed to know how to narrow down her options, plan her strategy and then create the appropriate tools for executing her plan. Many well-intentioned job seekers today do not know all of these steps. The result is a stalled job search that slows them down and can even hold them back completely from finding the right opportunity. This often leads to them succumbing to ‘The First-Job-That-Comes-Along Syndrome' - a disease that is guaranteed to lead to career dissatisfaction. (I'll be writing about that soon.)
Whether you are fresh out of school or a seasoned professional, you need to make sure you are following a logical and complete process for finding your next job. Without one, you'll feel like my friend Carla - confused, unproductive and frustrated.
I gave Carla the 10 Key Steps to a Successful Job Search. I'm also offering them to you. At the very least, you can use it as a checklist to confirm you are doing the right thing. You may even determine which of the steps is giving you the most trouble. Either way, it's a quick resource designed to help you get focused and engaged in a proper process for finding your next job.
Sign up below and you'll automatically receive an e-mail with the 10 Key Steps to a Successful Job Search. I'll be honest, we won't ever sell or use your e-mail for SPAMMING, but we will add you to our newsletter database. So, if you decide you don't want to get our weekly e-mail, you can easily unsubscribe at the bottom the first time you receive it.
I hope you'll use this free tool to plan your route to success. As you've hopefully gathered from this post, cycling blindfolded is bad for the health of your job search!
