Job Search Success: 6 Steps to Take Now
So how do you start a Job Search, if you are a person in transition (layoff / change career direction / stuck in job that does not match ‘your passion’)?
How about being a new grad from college, grad school or high school?
What will separate you from the ‘thousands’ of candidates in the internet clogged ‘web’ of companies trying to get candidates?
Before you start this ‘search’, it’s important to discover your root values and strengths, which will help to ignite your Passions, Gifts, Talents, Possibilities and Purpose.
In my business, Kehoe Consultants, we have decades of experience helping individuals start or realign their career direction, as well as reinvent themselves as individuals so they can begin their career, enhance their career, and even or develop a route for their ‘encore’ career. The process also helps an individual create opportunities, get the job they’ll love by finding a specific career path and, especially important, ‘get noticed’ by hiring managers and Leadership Coaches within organizations.
The following 6 Steps is a ‘strategic’ process developed and used at Kehoe Consultants to help you have a streamlined, solid ‘search’ process:
1. Start with a strong Career Assessment Tool
‘Elevations’, an online assessment tool, gives an in – depth view of an individual’s Values, Skills, Personality Traits, Career Interests, all in one assessment report.
2: Competencies Grid:
The ‘jewel’ of this job search process, is to help an individual develop and complete a Competencies /Skills grid. It can be used as a personal ‘script’ during an interview or an Informational Conversation.
3: It’s Not You…It’s Your Resume Workshop, is a format to teach the individual straight forward layout techniques, that make their ‘new’ resume easy to read by any recruiter or resume scanning device. It uses a personal summary statement, and for each job position noted on the resume, specific quantitative accomplishments are listed.
4: Without a Marketing Plan it is Hard to Meet the ‘Right’ Hiring Managers:
You’ll be searching the internet for the next ‘thousand years’; instead build a Referral Grid.
The Referral Grid is a grid with 3 columns:
o Each column title has a different industry label, ‘industries’ that interest you.
o Then under each column, list each name of organizations in that industry that are interesting to you.
o Now it’s time to network with professionals, community leaders, friends and family; and ask them “Who do they know?”
o Say something like, “I am researching opportunities in these three industries” and then ask “Who do you know in each of the organization’s name I have listed?”
o Hand them the grid and let them start filling in your grid.
Ask them to help you fill in a specific name and contact info under each organization on the blank grid. Be sure to also write who gave you each contact name. Now you have a ‘warm calling list’ to begin your job search process.
Show your completed Referral Grid to as many people as possible and get as much input as you can!
5: ‘To the Point’ Cover Letters Use Their Words to Get You Noticed- Start by reading the job posting like Sherlock Holmes; look for ‘clues’ as to how their job posting matches your background. Then develop your cover letter to include the key words used in the job posting.
You’ll use key words from the job posting, that will be ‘ picked up’ electronically from your cover letter, and get their attention.
6: Behavioral Interviewing Techniques with a Twist – The formal Behavioral Interview process used by many organizations, works off the STAR method of questioning.
S – Situation
T – Tasks
A – Actions
R – Results.
The ‘twist’ is to prepare/ practice your answers using these STAR responses; and to have concise and ‘to the point’ answers. The Competency Grid, which we mentioned before, can be a script for your interview because it highlights your strengths, competencies and technical skills, at a glance, during your interview.
Enjoy this strategic job search process!