Successful Job Searching in Prime Time!

Stop the excuses! Yeah, it’s hot and humid, everyone seems to be on vacation or getting the kids back to school. Not the time to be planning and starting a job search? WRONG!

When I started my career over 30 years ago, there were some definite cycles that defined the level of hiring during the calendar year. During the summer months, recruiting activity decreased as hiring managers and candidates took vacation. As Thanksgiving approached, hiring slowed way down until after the new year began.

Today, in our virtual, 24/7, go-go-go world of work, recruiting activity slows down slightly during the summer and the year-end holidays. The 3 months of September, October and November are Prime Recruiting Time as employers are back from vacation, the kids are back in school and everyone gets back to focusing on work.

Take advantage of this time to prepare for an effective transition with these 5 Action Steps:

1.) Assess Your Career

Is your current job meeting your expectations? Is it time to look at new opportunities
that are a better fit with your interests, values and priorities? Analyze your current
situation and determine if the job/function/company are meeting your needs. If not, what needs to change?

2.) Restate your Objectives and Goals

What are your short-term objectives and long-term career goals? These can change
as we think about new directions and priorities, so always be thinking about revising
your roadmap to success.

3.) Explore the Market for Your Talents and Interests

With your goals in mind, put on your detective’s cap and investigate the potential
opportunities out in the career marketplace. What trends are affecting your function
and/or industry? What companies are on top of their competitive game and could use your talents? ID the organizations you want to target. If you are interested in part-time or temporary assignments, the Fall is a great time to be looking as companies, especially retailers and the firms that provide them with products who are gearing up for the holiday season.

4.) Conduct a Personal Marketing Makeover

You have one chance to make a good first impression. Revise your resume to be an
effective sales tool to communicate your background and interests to prospective
employers. Brush up on your interviewing techniques and negotiating strategies.
Develop an extensive plan to ID jobs that interest you, and work hard to increase
your visibility in the job marketplace through networking (social networking on the
Internet as well as face to face) and following up with referrals.

5.) Implement a Strategy to Success

Take that plan and make it work for you by setting weekly goals for yourself in
utilizing all the avenues available for developing job leads including networking, searching job boards, contacting recruiters and introducing yourself directly to
decision-makers in companies that interest you. Build and maintain the momentum necessary to successfully reach your career goals!