Select Your Targets
The only difference between caprice and a lifelong passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer. OSCAR WILDE
List your targets in the order in which you will conduct your search. List first the one you will focus on in your first campaign. If you are currently employed and have time to explore, you may want to select as your first target the most unlikely one. (Job hunters sometimes want to target areas they had only dreamed about before.) Concentrate on it and find out for sure if you are truly interested and what your prospects are. If it doesn't work, you can become more realistic.
On the other hand, if you must find a job quickly, concentrate first on the area where you stand the best chance of getting a job perhaps the field you are now in. After you are settled in your new job, you can develop yourself in the area that interests you in the long run. Remember, it's OK to take something less than your ideal job; just keep working toward your dreams.
Someone who made this work is Nat, who wanted to work for a Japanese company. He thought the Japanese culture suited his temperament. Yet Nat was forced to take a job at another company because the Japanese process was slow (approval had to come from Tokyo). Still, Nat kept pursuing the position with the Japanese firm.
Eventually, his dream job came through at much more money than he had been making. The Japanese company realized that Nat's personal style, uncommon in America, meshed with Japanese management methods. Nat, his new job, and his new employer were a good fit. Despite many obstacles, Nat pursued his dream and got it. And it was worth it in job satisfaction and in having some say over what happened in his own life.
If you are targeting a geographic area different from where you are now, be sure to conduct a serious, complete campaign aimed at that target. For example, you will want to contact search firms in that area, do library research, perhaps conduct a direct mail campaign, and network. Use the work area below to plan your targets.
Measuring Your Targets
You've selected three to five targets to focus on. Will they be enough to get you an appropriate job?
Let's say, for example, that your first target aims at a small industry (ten companies) containing small companies for which you could fill a top management post. Each of these companies has one position that would be appropriate for you. Chances are, those jobs are filled right now. In fact, chances are there may be no opening for a year or two. The numbers are working against you. But if you have targeted twenty small industries, each of which has ten companies for which you could fill a top management post, the numbers are more in your favor. On the other hand, if one of your targets has a lot of positions that may be right for you, the numbers are again on your side.
Let's analyze your own search and see if the numbers are working for or against you. Fill out the following information on your own target markets. You will probably have to make an educated guess about the number of positions. A ball park figure is all you need to get a feel for where you stand.
Rule Of Thumb
A target list of two hundred positions results in seven interviews which result in one job offer. Therefore, if there are less than two hundred potential positions in your targets, develop additional targets or expand the ones you already have. Remember that when aiming at a target of less than two hundred, concentrated effort will be required.
Sometimes, however, one company by itself may be enough. What if a very qualified secretary wanted to work for a regional telephone company? What are the chances she would find a job there? A regional telephone company may have thousands of secretaries, and a qualified person would certainly be able to find a job there within a reasonable time frame. Sometimes a company can be a target.
In a tight job market, however, you will probably need to expand your job hunting targets. If you are searching only in Chicago, or only in the immediate area where you live, think of other geographic areas. If you are looking only in large public corporations, consider small or private companies, or the not for profit area. If you are looking for a certain kind of position, what other kinds of work can you do? Think of additional targets for your search, and focus on each target in depth.
