You want a new job. You want it fast. How will YOU make it happen?
Sometimes it feels like securing a new job is out of our control. I hear too often today people say “There aren’t any jobs out there”. I know there are jobs out there and so do you. The trick is finding them. Like a good old fashioned Easter Egg Hunt; you have to really look and quickness counts. If you don’t move quickly, someone else is going to find those eggs. You look in the obvious, visible spots first. After a while, you are going to have to look in out of the way, less obvious, hiding spots.
How does setting goals fit into this? You will want to set long term and short term goals to truly make things happen. Keep moving forward towards your goals.
Say your long-term goal is to have a job by ______________ (fill in the date). How many individuals will you need to meet to make that happen? How many interviews will you be turned down from? How many jobs will you need to apply for online? How many recruiters will you need to develop relationships with? These are the numbers you want to set in stone and strive for. Why these? Because these are the ways people secure jobs. Just take a look at CareerXroads survey from early this year. The study asked companies how they filled their openings.
Referral, Corporate websites, job boards and other made up the greatest sources of EXTERNAL hiring. Let’s use that logic to set goals for meeting your target hiring date!
12% of your time: Applying for Jobs on-line (would that be 10 to 20 per week?)
27% of your time: In Face to Face meetings (can you set a goal of 5 conversations per week?)
20% of your time: Visiting the websites of target companies to apply for jobs (can you set a goal of 50 target companies to monitor?)
40% of your time: Divide this up among career fairs, working with recruiters, and all the other traditional search methods?)
Reaching these conservative numbers proves that you have your work cut out for you. It is going to take discipline and time management to maintain these goals.
This is a Numbers Game
Older statistics stated that 1 out of 4 interviews would result in an offer. I am pretty sure that number is higher now. This goes to show that you will not get every job you apply for, nor would you want every job you interviewed for. In order to get interviews, you will have to meet a lot of people and apply thoughtfully to a lot of jobs.
Quantity AND Quality
The other thing to consider is the quality of these efforts versus the quality. You are investing your time, do so wisely. Give more time to those meetings or job postings that are worth your investment.
Are you setting these kinds of goals? Can you sustain this activity?
If you are seeking for the golden egg, move swiftly and investigate every option.
Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.
