The Job Seekers Outline

Day 1: Emotion

So you have just been let go, downsized, riffed, fired, outsourced, insourced (if you are the consultant), or whatever other words they come up with for termination. Now what? You probably have a bunch of emotion right now: Shock – Excitement – Anxiety – Hope. All of those are ok to experience but you cant let them take hold of you. Take 24 hours to do what you need to do to cope then move on and get down to business.

Day 2: Focus and Organize

Whenever you lose your job for whatever reason, you invariably are “hired” by you to find another job. You are now working for yourself 8 hours a day until you find your next source income. Here are some things to do to get you set up for success.

1. Gather work examples, resume, cover letter, thank you notes, notebook/portfolio
2. Make sure you have interview appropriate clothes
3. Here is a list of some places to start, but check out a more thorough list here – http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco20042.htm:

• Read tips such as this: http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search-starting-points/home.aspx
• Books – job search, career change, personality
• people – mentors, family, friends.
• websites: http://career-advice.monster.com/Home.aspx
• library
• trade publications
• networks – LinkedIn, Facebook, church
• organizations – AmSpirit, Conusultant agency, placement agency

A quick note: bls.gov (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and dol.gov (U.S. Department of Labor) are great, reliable additional resources; I would use them whenever possible.

One CRITICAL piece that some people don’t take into account is not that they now have $0 coming into their bank account but rather what their bare-bones budget is. Pull together bills and know what you can do without in case you can’t find a job right away. These are non essentials like subscriptions to newspapers or other media, cable, savings, investments, and paying extra on other bills like mortgage (see my post) or something you might have financed.

Day 3: Define your search

Know what industry to target and what job(s) you are looking for. This may be more difficult for some more than others because of the line of work you are in. The message here is to narrow your focus as much as possible in places that will make the most of your efforts.

Know your min salary. This will help eliminate jobs and keep you from accepting the first thing that comes along (assuming it wouldn’t fit in your criteria otherwise).

Know your time frame. This will be most likely driven off of how much money you have to live off of. Do some math and determine the maximum amount of time you can wait, based on your money stores. Then create a green, yellow, red scale. For example, green may be the next 4 weeks, if you received a severance, it may be 6 or 8. Then, yellow would be the next 3-4 weeks. Then, red would be your final 2 weeks. This is when you need to start considering temping or other means to get by until you find something more permanent. Remember, this is a guide and will vary, significantly in some cases, depending on your cash reserves.

Day 4 – Part 1: Resume/Cover Letter

You may have thought this would have been the first step when you started reading but it is important to set things up before you hit your resume. This way you know how to structure it and what things to highlight. There are tons of opinions when it comes to resumes so I wil leave this one to Monster.com. for tweaks and updates see these sites. In general, I would familurize yourself with this site, you will be spending a lot of time here and other job sites.

• http://career-advice.monster.com/resume-writing-basics/Common-Resume-Blunders/home.aspx
• http://career-advice.monster.com/resume-writing-basics/Resume-Presentation/home.aspx

Day 4 – Part 2: Interview support documents

This is another good but often overlooked step; gather and polish work samples and things you are proud of. This will not only allow you to speak more confidently but give the interviewer something tangible from your past that is reliable. You will also gather and list possible references. Be sure to cal these people before you list them to give them a heads up and in some cases to catch up a little bit on their lives. The last thing you want to do is make it sound like your using them, so get personal first then down to business.

Intermission

Phweew. That is a lot of work. Good thing you are motivated and working at this just as if it were you job, otherwise it would take much longer. Now maybe you’re reading this and are like “uh, I’m not motivated and I have no idea what you are talking about”. That’s ok. Maybe you will need to do some extra research, get more personal guidance or maybe a combination of the two. Feel free to contact me and i should be able to point you in the right direction – Jmccleery@columbus.rr.com.

If you have gone through these steps and finding yourself successful thus far in the process, congratulations! Take a minute to indulge yourself. My guilty pleasure is cold Coke straight from the can over crushed ice. Mmmm.

Day 5 – Part 1: Network

This will be one of your most successful methods to finding a job, period. Gather contacts, update information, and outline a plan to engage them, even if they might not be a influential decision maker, they may still know someone who is or have some insight.

That is the easy part, now you will need to sound sincere, personable and friendly. If someone thinks you calling them just to use them, you might as well not call. It is important to first learn about them and how things are with them and build some rapport, especially if you haven’t talked to this person in a while or they are a “loose” contact (someone that you don’t know well or through another person).

Day 5 – Part 2: Publicity

You need to deploy your persona like you are trying to get people to visit a grand opening of your store. Remember, it’s your job to find a job. You will need make sure you a cordial, mannerly and polite. In other words professional and as my mom would say “on your best behavior”. If you have trouble “selling yourself” or lack confidence it will hurt you in this process. Make sure to have arrived early and orderly, have practiced at least in the mirror or with someone ideally, and just be yourself. For more tips check this article out: http://www.jobbankusa.com/interviews/articles_tips/tips_to_boost_your_job_interview_confidence.html

Final Thought

You have now completed a solid plan to success in your job hunt. Remember this is a process and will take more than 5 days to get an offer, your ultimate goal. Below is an article that talks about the average time to get a new job is at 4.4 months. Hope you got money! At least now you have a plan.

Something that I have been doing is learning more about myself through myers-briggs assessments, self examination books and the like. It helps me have a better idea of what I like doing and what I may be good at that I didn’t realize before. Often, getting terminated from a job is just what people need to fulfill what they were truly meant to be doing. If this interests you check out “Please Understand Me II” by Dr. David Keirsey, creator of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter.

Additional Articles:

• http://www.biojobblog.com/2008/10/articles/general-job-stuff/some-interesting-statistics-for-job-seekers/
• http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-811-Job-Search-Best-and-Worst-States-for-Jobs/?ArticleID=811&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=3fc0da06ff024ed1af9be3881267194f-278341165-wu-6&ns_siteid=ns_us_g_percent_how_people_fi_
• http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/17/pf/saving/willis_tips/index.htm
• http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/careers/2008/02/21/5-tips-on-finding-a-new-job.html
• http://www.pinnycohen.com/2008/01/24/psychology/why-most-people-end-up-hating-their-job/