Your Job Plan

By now, you have probably heard the phrase, "if you do not know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else".

This is true for planning any major life decision, as it is true for the individual who is seeking employment. There are many ways to go about identifying job leads, contacting employers, and conducting your job search in general. Without the proper planning, a job seeker could end up accepting the first position that comes along, accepting a position not related to their professional background and training, or simply under employing themselves and missing more promising employment opportunities and personal professional goals. Making poor employment decisions may have a huge impact on your life; you may not be happy with the 'less than perfect' job you accepted (this will affect many areas of your life), you may send yourself on a professional course that is not even close to what you originally intended; you could end up hopping from job to job until you have damaged your work history to the point where it is questioned by future employers. However, some individuals may find themselves in a place they never expected and be perfectly happy with their circumstances. I have to believe that these individuals are in the minority. Why leave your future in the hands of haphazard, hit and miss planning? Here are some suggestions that will help any job seeker take control of their job search:

Know the kind of job you are looking for

I suggest that you know the kind of job you are looking for and the type of industries you would like to (or are qualified to) apply those skills in. For example, if you have targeted a job as an accountant, do you want to work in the health care industry, a manufacturing environment, education, etc.? Joyce Lain Kennedy, author of the book, Joyce Lain Kennedy's Career Book, states that there are three basic approaches to a job search. The first is the target approach. The target approach is when you go after specific jobs that fit into your professional plans. This approach works well for those who have specific technical training and/or related professional work experience. The target approach is the best of the three because it gives you the most control of your future. The second approach is the called the "oyster approach" or an approach that suggests "the world is my oyster". To use this strategy means applying for any position that is even slightly related to your background. Kennedy states that this approach is good because it allows one to maximize their opportunities but bad because "not all oysters contain pearls". The third approach is a combination of the targeted and the 'oyster' strategy. In this way, one may combine the best parts of both. Kennedy adds that you should use the targeted approach 80-90% of the time and the rest to use whatever might come up along the way. Furthermore, career indecision often shows during job interviews. Employers will easily be able to tell the difference between someone who just needs a job versus someone who has made a serious commitment to a particular career area.

Pick your place on a map

If you know that you want to stay in the general area of a city, La Crosse, for example, pull out a map and draw some boundaries that include other communities you would be willing to consider as well. If you are willing to travel 30 miles one way to a work destination, include those communities that fall into your circumference. This is an especially helpful exercise to do when you are planning to relocate to another area. In this way, you will see all the names of the surrounding communities that you can consider in addition to the primary city you have in mind.

Make a list of the names of the companies and organizations

Now you have your job goal(s) and the communities you want to work in identified. The next step is to make a list of the names of the companies and organizations that are in those communities who are likely to have the type of opportunities you are looking for. You may want to focus in on the top ten or so that you are the most interested in. Here are some resources to help you identify those organizations: The Yellow Pages (most libraries will carry phone books of a multitude of communities), the local Chamber of Commerce, the local Job Center office, the local newspapers, colleges and university career service offices, employer directories (again, found in your local library or Job Center), and professional associations and trade journals. Last and not least, the Internet. If you do not have Internet access at home, most libraries and Job Center locations will offer this service to you. The Internet is full of employer directories, direct job postings, and employer home pages (great for researching the employer as well). One other very effective approach to identifying employers and job opening s is to network. Especially if the communities you are considering are not new to you, you will greatly increase your employment prospects by telling anyone and everyone that you are now in the market for a particular kind of job. Employers respond well to individuals who have been referred to them by a friend, relative or internal employee because it makes the applicant feel familiar to them. It is also cost effective for the employer because it circumvents possible advertising expenses time involved in hiring. Using your network is a wonderful way of tapping the hidden job market or finding out and applying for unadvertised positions.

Contact potential employers

Contact the potential employers you have identified. Once you have learned a little about the potential employers in your communities, create your plan to contact them. Joyce Lain Kennedy suggests that you contact employers by mail or by phone in order to make appointment. If you are still in a researching mode about your new community or career area, you might want to ask some employers for informational interviews in order to help you gain more information about a particular area. This might help you get your foot in the door with an organization and will certainly help with your company research. This is another way of tapping the hidden job market. If you are applying to open positions being advertised via internet or newspaper of some other means, you should follow the protocol outlined by the employer. Remember that you are immediately competing with many others for the same position when you apply for an advertised position. You can increase your odds for an interview by dropping off your resume in person and asking to see or meet the individual responsible for hiring and following up any written correspondence with a phone call if this is not being discouraged by the employer. In the workshops I do with students, I call using the telephone to contact a list of employers "dialing for dollars". Calling employers to find out about job openings and to seek individual appointments after your paperwork has been sent is time effective and highly productive when done effectively. If you are not sure on how to conduct an effective telephone campaign, stop by your local Job Center and pick up some of the materials on how to handle this aspect of your job search. It is a skill worth developing!

Keep track of all job search efforts

The job seeker should keep track of all job search efforts on paper. This is the most important of the five things you do to conduct and effective job search campaign. You will be amazed to see how busy you have been with phone calls, sending resumes, interview appointments. Writing down your plans and activities will help you avoid keeping important details to memory only. For example, if you informed an employer by phone or in your cover letter that you would follow-up with them in two weeks, make sure you do this! If you have just sent out five letters to specific people with five different organizations, make sure you keep your record of this so when they call you back you do not sound caught off guard. If you have just interviewed with three people, make certain you write down their names and titles so you can send them a thank you note. Keeping accurate record of all of your job search efforts cannot be stressed enough. Your record will help to affirm your hard work and good intentions and will also reaffirm using certain strategies over others.

Final note

On a final note, if your job search is not producing the results you have hoped for, it may be because you do not have enough or any related work experience. If you are a student or recent graduate, you will quickly learn the high value that employers place on related work experience. Students are encouraged to participate in multiple cooperative work experiences, field experiences and/or internships if at all possible during their education. I In the Job Outlook '99 Survey completed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers look for related work experience second to communication skills during the screening process. This survey also highlighted that employers doing on-campus interviewing on our nations colleges and universities, look first for new hires among students who have completed work and internship programs within their organizations. Some employers state that they will not interview students who have not participated in a work based learning experience or another tangible class project experience. If you are not currently enrolled in post secondary education, you could contact temporary employment agencies for similar opportunities. A temporary position will also offer you the chance to evaluate different career areas, industries, and office environments for yourself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you treat the job of finding a job like a full time job in and of itself, your efforts should the produce positive career results that you deserve.