Project Planning Your Work Search Program Recap

Another big thank you to Paul Cecala of Cecala Career Consultants for a jam-packed presentation on how you can set yourself up for success by taking a project planning approach to your job search.  The application process has become so automated that it can be very difficult to get your resume in front of the right people.  Even better though, is getting yourself connected with the right people in the right places; the old adage of “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is still the case in more easily securing the job you want.  By applying a systematic approach modeled off of project planning, you can increase your chances of connecting with the right people and landing that dream job.  So let’s dive in and see how Paul’s 8 step approach works.

Phase 1 – Preparation (Steps 1-4)

The first phase in any work search undertaking should be preparation.  The more work you put into the preparatory phase, the easier it will be for your to connect with others, develop critical relationships, and gain advantage in your career development.  Each of the following four steps should take about a week to complete.

Step 1 – Identify your work Ikigai

Ikigai is the Japanese concept of finding your purpose in life; in this instance, you are finding your work purpose.  Some of us just know what we want; for those that don’t, career assessments or personality assessment tests can help identify industries or professions that align with our personality and strengths.  If money is important, you may want to consider the skills gap and find those professions that are growing the fastest.

The backbone of your work search should be based on a prioritized list of accomplishments.  These do not have to be work related and should include things you are good at, enjoy doing, and are proud to tell people about.  This list of accomplishments can help provide jumping off points for future conversations with potential networking contacts.  It can also help you as you craft your resume as well as identify the career or organizations you want to target as part of your job search.  Staying home to take care of the kids is a big accomplishment!

Step 2 – Prioritize Target Markets Chart

Target Markets Charts are a great way to organize your job search into manageable portions that can help you prioritize your future prospects.  Each Target Market should contain the following information:

• Defined location – a metro area, region, state, etc.
• Industry – what sector/profession do you want to work in
• Role/Function – what specific position are you interested in
• Organizations – the number of organizations that match your first 3 credentials
• Number of positions

Anytime you change the location, industry, and role, you should create a new Target Market.  Once you have these finished, rank them – this will come in handy later.

Step 3 – Research Your Target Organizations

Once you have been able to identify the organizations for each of your Target Markets, do your research!  Visit their webpages to learn more about them, identify potential networking contacts, and find ways that you can benefit their organization.  You can also join professional, industry, or alumni associations to gain further knowledge about the specific role/function or profession you want to join, especially if you are changing careers.  The more knowledge you have in these topics, the better you can interact with contacts that can help gain a foothold in the organization or the field.  Overall, you want to do everything you can to become an expert in the field.  Also look at reviews of the organization from former employees to get an understanding of their culture; the inside may be very different than the outside.

Step 4 – Your Personal Brand

The last thing you want to do before making contacts, networking, and applying for those jobs is to ensure that you have everything you need to market your personal brand.  Make sure you have polished copies of all of your marketing materials – resumes, cover letters, reference letters, certifications, business cards, etc.

Next, create a marketing plan.  Resumes are backward looking, only focusing on what you’ve done; a marketing plan focuses on what you want in the future.  It should be a one-page document that lists your goals, qualifications, competencies, experience, and your target market.  As you make connections or speak with friends, family, and colleagues, you can provide this document for them to get a better understanding of what you are looking for and how they can help.

Your social media is an important and growing piece of your brand; especially as you are trying to connect with the right people in the right organizations.  Take stock of what social media platforms you are on; also make sure that you are active on those platforms where those you are targeting for networking and information are active on.  For many, LinkedIn is the premier social media platform for professional and career networking; however, there is a growing trend, especially in journalism, digital media, and other digital professions, to showcase your skills, interests, and personality on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.  Once on these platforms, you must also actively contribute content and not just be a passive consumer; you want to create content that will encourage others to engage with you.

Lastly,  you want to develop your networking introductions.  You should focus on 2 types of introductions – one that is jargon heavy for the industry professional and another that uses simplified language for the industry outsider to understand.  Once you have these, you want to break these down into a 10 second teaser, a 30 second introduction, and a 90 second introduction.  This can help you communicate your experiences, goals, and values to a wide variety of connections in almost any setting.  Also, these introductions should build on each other so that in total, instead of just having 10, 30, or 90 seconds, you can potentially have almost 120 seconds of time to reinforce your prime qualities.

Phase 2 – Active Search (4 Steps)

Once you have finished all of your preparation work, its now time to start focusing on your search, particularly your networking efforts.  As mentioned earlier, you need to find the right people, particularly hiring managers or those that are influential in that organization’s hiring process, and network with them.  This will help with name familiarity, more chances to communicate your value and interest in the organization, and a way to get past the Applicant Tracking System that many places now use to pre-screen candidates.

Step 5 – General Networking

As you complete and rank your Target Markets and conduct your research, you should be identifying potential contacts that you can connect with.  These may be people you know, acquaintances of friends, families, and colleagues, or influential people on social media.  Start by introducing yourself, commenting on relevant posts, or asking for advice.  The goal is to start building relationships and learn about the target market, specific organization, or position.  Ultimately, you are trying to talk to anyone that can introduce you to a hiring manager.  Plan to have 8-10 ongoing conversations at one time.

Step 6 – Network with Hiring Authority

The goal of networking in your work search is to get in touch with the hiring authority.  That means you want the right person at the right level in the right organization.  As you connect with these individuals, the focus should be on developing the relationship, not about asking for a job.  Ask for guidance or advice on applicable topics, create friendships on shared interests, and share gained knowledge and insights to show your expertise and potential value to their organization.  By showing your value, you can become the desired employee.  Once you get to this step, try to have 5-6 ongoing conversations with hiring authorities.

Start focusing our efforts in Steps 5 and 6 (and even Step 7) on your lower ranked Target Markets.  This may seem strange, but it will afford you the opportunity to develop your skills, communication tactics, and confidence before trying to connect with those in your priority Target Market.

Step 7 – Interviews and Follow-ups

The goal is to have these conversations with the hiring authorities turn into interviews.  As you develop a rapport with the hiring authorities, you can start steering conversations toward your ideal job or an opening that you want.  You can also use these conversations to gain knowledge to succeed in the interview.  You can also glean important information that you can use to tailor you marketing materials to address that organization’s specific needs, giving you a huge advantage against other potential candidates.  As always, follow-up your conversations and interviews with a brief thank you and keep the conversations going with industry intelligence as you gain it.

Step 8 – Process Flow and Accountability

As you move through these steps, you should always be reflecting on your experiences and track your process.  There are work search benchmarks that you can monitor by developing goals for each week (research, networking contacts/meetings, conversations) and developing goals for milestone conversations (networking into target organizations, meetings with hiring managers, job interviews).

A great way to do this is to create a dashboard of goals that track your progress by documenting your conversations and keeping a list of all of your contacts, interested organizations, and job applications.  You can plan to spend 35-40 hours a week if you have ability; the less time you spend, the longer it might take to find the right job.  However, the important thing is to commit yourself to certain schedule and stick to that schedule.  Calendars are a great way to visualize and organize your work search efforts, hold yourself accountable, and reassure spouses, friends, and families.

More Information

Finding a job, especially a dream job, can be a full-time job.  There are so many people with skills and experiences that it can be difficult to stand out.  This is why creating a work search plan, focused on networking, is so important.  If you want more information about career development, resume writing, interviews, and other aspects of finding a job, please contact Paul Cecala at PCecala@cecalacareer.com or visit Cecala Career Consultants at https://www.cecalacareer.com.