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Complete Job Search Strategy Guide

The following job search tips have been provided to help you as you start your search.

Job Search Tip #1: Targeting Your Search

This is one of our most important job search tips – if you don’t know what you want, you will never find it! Too many job seekers simply apply to advertised positions that seem to fit their qualifications. In doing so, they are competing with hundreds ­ or thousands – of other candidates for 20% of the available jobs. The other 80% are never advertised.

Our job search tips are designed to help you uncover and tap into this hidden job market.

The first stage is to develop a list of target companies. To do this, you need to take some time to really think about your next position.

Do you want to stay in the same industry or are you open to other options? What salary level are you looking for? Do you prefer smaller companies or do you want to work for a large corporation? Does the company culture matter to you? Are you looking to work for an industry leader? Are you willing to relocate?

Answering these questions will help you develop a list of your target companies and this list will form the basis of your job search campaign.

If you plan to stay in the same industry, developing your list of target companies will be relatively straightforward as you probably already know the key players and you have contacts (customers, suppliers or co-workers) who can help you put your list together.

But if you are open to changing industries, you will need to do more research to determine your list of targets. Check our links for associations and directories relating to your industry interests.

Use the internet to hunt down less well-known companies. www.Hoovers.com is a valuable resource with searchable databases of hundred of thousands of companies. You can sort by location, industry, company size etc. Their service is subscription-based, but can be well worth a short-term commitment during a job search.

If you would rather not subscribe to Hoovers, make use of your local library and ask a librarian for help. There are many directories which list associations, companies and contact information and your local library should have access to most of them.

Your target company list could take some time to compile, but it is critical work to do. Once your search is focused, you can make sure that you focus much of your effort on uncovering their hidden positions. This does not mean you should not continue to apply for advertised positions, but simply that your efforts should be balanced.

Your job search strategy will include each of the following:

• - Networking
• - Direct approach to your target companies
• - Contacting executive recruiters
• - Researching Œhidden’ opportunities
• - Applying to advertised positions
• - Posting your resume online (if confidentiality is not an issue.)

As you create your list, prioritize employers. Identify the ones you most want to work for. Again, this will help you budget your time and make sure that you are giving the appropriate amount of attention to each target.

Once you have your list, you’re ready to start your search.

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