Do These Three Things to Avoid Long and Painful Job Searches!
I am often asked how long a job search typically takes. While many “experts” share statistics on this, the reality is that the speed of the search varies based on three factors:
1. The quantity of jobs you can realistically compete for
2. Alignment of your skills with those jobs
3. Your success rate getting in front of hiring managers
The best way to stay on top of these three keys is by performing an annual three-step “career health check” while you are still actively employed.
Step 1: Conduct a Simulated Job Search:
Use LinkedIn, Indeed, or other preferred job site to search for a job as though you were actively on the market. Given that job titles can vary from company to company, it can be very helpful to do this search using your skills (software used, activities performed, etc.) instead of your title.
These searches will reveal how many jobs are out there, the titles companies use for those jobs, the requirements that employers list for those jobs, where the jobs are, and what the jobs pay.
Step 2: Align Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile:
Compare your resume to the responsibilities and qualifications listed in the job postings you have found. Make sure to show all the skills that you can truthfully claim within the professional experience (or work history) section of your resume.
This is also a good time to add accomplishments since the last career health check. This is a critically important step as most workers spend little time documenting accomplishments and end up scrambling to recall them when they revert to job search mode.
If there are no gaps between the content of your resume and the jobs you would pursue, update your LinkedIn profile to match the resume as closely as possible. If you do have gaps, try to find ways to gain those skills while performing your job or through a third-party training resource such as LinkedIn Learning.
Doing this part of the career health check every year will ensure that you will always be qualified for the jobs you would go after if and when you want to go after them. The longest and most painful job searches of all are suffered by those workers whose skills are no longer in demand. Don’t let this be you!
Step 3: Develop Connections Before You Need Them:
Search for LinkedIn connections who are in the positions you would target, who would manage the positions you would target, or who would recruit for the positions you would target. Start adding these connections on a regular and management cadence throughout the year. Building a professional network is critical for two reasons:
1. 80% of us get hired by being connected to an opportunity outside of the published job market.
This is usually based on a referral from a common connection. Because many companies pay employees for these referrals, people don’t need to know you well to be motivated to connect you.
2. 75% of candidates who apply online are eliminated by companies’ applicant tracking systems.
Another 15% are weeded out by screening personnel. A good professional network can get a candidate past one or both of these hurdles.
Make a commitment to devote an hour or two a week building and maintaining your LinkedIn network by joining and engaging in professional groups, sharing content that reminds your network of your expertise, and recognizing work anniversaries, job promotions, and birthdays.
Multiple top HR people have told me that while they post jobs online to comply with policy, that they often go directly to LinkedIn and do keyword searches to find qualified people. By creating more first and second-level connections, and building the right content into your documents, you improve the likelihood of a job finding you instead of you having to invest time and energy to search for it!
To sum up, the keys to success are: know what jobs you would go after if you had to move, make sure to maintain qualifications for those jobs, and develop a network of real people who can connect you to opportunities ahead of the competition.
