Five key ways to revive your job search

Even in a thriving, robust economy, looking for a new opportunity can seem daunting – but add a recovering economy, high unemployment indicators, substantially more candidates in the pool, and you need a few more tricks in your job-search toolkit.

In our consulting practice, we provide career coaching to all levels of job searchers from entry-level professionals to C-level managers. A common theme we saw last year was an over-dependence on technology. Yes, it is important to have a great profile on LinkedIn, to explore the optimal ways to use social media, and to regularly search job postings on company websites as well as employment sites such as Monster, CareerBuilder or HotJobs, and others, but just using technology is not enough in today’s market.

Candidates today need to pull out all the stops. If you are looking for a job and are serious about meeting your objective, we strongly recommend that you develop a varied and strategic job-search plan.

Here are five key elements to take your job-search plan to a new level:

Professional pitches

Whether we have 10, 50 or 100 resumes to review, as executive recruiters, we give first consideration to those that meet the client’s requirements, but also to those that look professional and make a great presentation. Multitudes of articles and books have been written on how to prepare your resume, but three “must haves” include:  a professional, polished look; sufficient white space; and no more than two pages in length. Judy Kennelley, president of Integrity Network Inc., a retained search firm that specializes in working with Colorado technology companies, stated, “In addition to a great-looking resume, successful candidates must have a powerful two-minute elevator pitch describing the progression of their career. This is so important, we ask our candidates to practice and memorize this speech until it is completely natural.”

Always be networking

While you are unemployed, or simply looking for that next great opportunity, you need to consider networking as your part-time job.

This means dedicating a portion of each day to networking activities: making calls to key contacts, e-mailing new contacts, sending a handwritten thank-you note, or doing a check-in call to your network to let them know you are still looking.

Are you doing enough networking? Here’s a great litmus test: If your friends and networking contacts are not regularly asking you how your job search is going, then you are not connecting and reaching out to them enough.

Strengthen and increase your presence in your professional associations and community

Research your professional and community organizations to discover what job resources are available for you. Stay in touch regularly with these groups, and set goals to make a certain number of meetings and/or connections with this part of your network on a weekly and monthly basis.

A successful salesman we know makes appearances at coffee shops and gyms at specific times of the day when he knows he may meet current and prospective clients. This involves an extra effort in your workweek, but the rewards can be huge.

Remain flexible

Being flexible with job opportunities is critical. Dick Jordan, president of Staff Resources Inc., a national search firm in Rock Hill, South Carolina, said, “The more flexible a candidate is, the more likely he or she will be successful in finding a new opportunity quickly. When we have candidates willing to be truly flexible to the point of considering relocation, we have candidates with a high likelihood of getting hired.”

Have positive interactions

Be positive and professional in every job-search interaction. We understand sometimes this can be difficult if you have been in the job search for a while, or if the hiring manager isn’t returning your calls, but being positive is critical when engaging with any of your professional network.

This applies to your phone calls, coffee meetings, e-mails and follow-up correspondence.

If you sense you are getting tired, flat or negative, take a break, but once you feel refreshed, get right back at it. Enthusiasm, a sense of humor and a great outlook are contagious and are often the determining factors when hiring decisions are close.

In summary, dedicate some time to strengthening and fine-tuning your job search strategy and developing good candidate presentation skills, and you will reach your next great job opportunity more quickly.

Jean Imbler-Jansen, president of Strategic HR Solutions, a human resources executive search firm and consultancy in Boulder, can be reached at 303-247-9500 or via e-mail at jimbler@sHRsnet.com.

on Facebook on LinkedIn