Working the system increases your chances of getting the job you want faster. Working the system also helps relieve your natural anxiety about what you should be doing next.
The system is the same whether you are employed or unemployed, and even if you are not interested in changing jobs now. That's because job hunting in a changing economy means: continuously becoming aware of market conditions inside as well as outside your present company. And learning what you have to offer both inside and outside your company.
The time to become aware of your opportunities is not when the pressure is on to find a new job, but now.
The Job Hunting Process
You select or target a job market by selecting a geographic area you'd be willing to work in, an Industry Or Company Size, And A Job Or Function Within That Industry. For Example, You May want to be a pressman in the publishing industry in New Hampshire. That's your target market.
Then conduct a campaign for the sole purpose of getting interviews in your target area. A number of those interviews might eventually lead to acceptable job offers.
Job hunting seems to have dozens of equally important steps. Thereare resumes and cover Letters To Write, Personal Contacts To Make, Search Firms To Contact, Ads To Answer, Notes To write, and so on. You can lose sight of what is most important.
There are only four main parts in a job hunt campaign: targeting, getting interviews in each target, interviewing, and following up. Do your best and put your effort into those areas. Everything you do in a job hunt grows out of your targets, which lead to interviews and then to offers. If you have targeted well, can get interviews, are well prepared for them, and know how to turn interviews into offers, you will be focused and less affected by mistakes in other areas of your search.
How Long A Job Hunt Will Take
The length of each step in your search can vary considerably. For example, selecting the area in which you want to work (Part II of this book) can be as simple as saying, "I want to be a controller in a small firm." Or it can be as complex as saying, "I want a position of leadership in a growing computer services business in any major U.S. city, where I can run my part of the operation working with fast paced but ethical people who are imaginative and leaders in their field. The job should lead to the position of partner."
The entire campaign can be very short. Let's say, for example, that:
- you have focused on a specific, realizable target
- there are openings in the area that interests you
- you know of someone in a position to hire you
- you and the hiring manager "strike sparks" during the interview and it progresses naturally
The average job hunt does take longer. Statistics show that for professionals and middle managers, it takes an average of six months or more to find the job they want. As the previous chapter establishes, career changers take longer. And people currently employed usually take longer to find a new job because they often don't work as hard at the hunt.
It can take you longer than a month or two because, among other things:
- You may not be that clear about what you want.
- What you want may not be realistic.
- Maybe it is realistic, but there are no immediate openings.
- There may be openings, but you may not know where they are.
- You may hear of some openings, but may not know someone in a position to hire you.
- You may meet someone in a position to hire you, but the two of you don't hit it off.
On the other hand, job hunting is like any other skill: you'll get better at it with practice. You'll learn the techniques, and you'll learn more about what's right for you. You'll become aware of what's happening in your chosen field, so that when you start a formal search it won't take so long.
