Now is the time to begin your job search, after you have narrowed down your short-term career goal and decided on a few job titles that are a great match. This post will cover strategies for conducting a successful job search campaign from Chapter Eleven of The Purple Parachute. Since this chapter covers a lot of content, I will break it up into two parts. This post covers the strategies for job search. The next blog will cover marketing materials and interviewing.
This is an ongoing blog series addressing each chapter of The Purple Parachute: A Woman’s Guide to Navigating the Winds of Career Change.
If you want to start from the beginning, this link will take you to the first one.
MANAGE YOUR TIME CAREFULLY
Job search needs energy and momentum, so you must set the stage by managing your time well and enforcing boundaries. If you are not working, others will try to distract you with their agenda. If you are working but want a different job, you will have limited time to run your job search. In either case, treat your time like the precious commodity that it is. Creating boundaries and scheduling time for the necessary steps are two critical factors for success.
CURATE A LIST OF EMPLOYERS TO TARGET
Though you have job titles to focus on, you still need to research potential places to work. It’s a good idea to have a list of ten employers on your radar. As you build your list, you may take some off or add new findings depending on what you discover. Do not rule out a good match because they do not have a current opening. By the time you get to the right person, that opportunity may exist. Seek out information from your local library, online, and by speaking to others.
Once you have found an ideal employer, ask everyone you know if they know someone who works there. It doesn’t matter what their title is, you just want to find someone willing to speak with you about what it’s like to be employed by that organization. You can ask that person if they can introduce you to someone else in the right department.
Ten questions to consider when vetting potential employers:
1) Which employers need the skills you possess and have job titles that align with your targets?
2) What are the stated values of the employer?
3) What evidence can you find to support that they follow their stated values?
4) Do the company values match your values?
5) Do you want to work in a nonprofit, corporate, educational, or government setting?
6) Do you want to work for a large, small, or medium-sized organization?
7) Who are the largest employers in your area?
8) Do you want to work for a start-up or a well-established employer?
9) Which employers are within your ideal distance from your residence?
10) Do they have remote work options?
UNDERSTAND AND ACCESS THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET
The Hidden Job Market (HJM) refers to all the jobs available that are not publicly advertised. It can also refer to the time in between when a job opportunity is created and when it is officially posted. The HJM is vast and it’s accessible through human connections. It’s the secret to job search success! Let me explain how it works.
Often someone knows about a potential opening. It could be her own job because she plans to leave soon but hasn’t yet told her employer. It could be someone who knows someone else will be leaving soon. This could include someone who knows that a friend is moving out of the area for a job that a prospective employee must do in person or someone who knows of a colleague who plans to leave to start a family. It could even be a hiring manager who knows she must fire someone very soon. All these situations create opportunities in the HJM. How do you access the HJM? Through networking, of course, because none of these types of opportunities will be posted right away.
There is always a space in time when very few people know about a future opening. For example, once an employee gives her notice, often only the supervisor is aware of the future vacancy. It is common for a manager to sit on this knowledge for a week or two because she is too busy to deal with it. A good manager will try to fill the position quickly and therefore she may ask around casually to see if anyone on the team knows of a good replacement. At this point, more than one person knows about the opportunity but still very few people know about it.
After trying informal methods, the manager may have to use a formal approach and seek the help of Human Resources (HR). The HR department often has standard procedures for posting a job that may include updating the job requirements. This often takes an additional week or two. It is not uncommon that four to five weeks will pass between the time an employee gives notice to the time that the job gets publicly posted.
While some companies must legally post all vacancies, most managers want to fill the position with the least amount of work. If you find a way to interact with a hiring manager when they are trying to fill a position and you can communicate why you are a good fit, chances are you can secure an interview. Discovering an opening while it’s still in the HJM phase will strengthen your odds because once the job is known to the world, your competition will increase exponentially.
IN SUMMARY
Job search can be hard, but you can make it easier on yourself. There are proven strategies that will increase your chances of success.
1) Be intentional about how you spend your time.
2) Research potential organizations that are a good match and seek them out, even if there is no job posted at that moment. Target employers that align with your values.
3) Access the Hidden Job Market by making connections with people you know and reaching out to hiring managers.
One final note, it’s critical that you take charge of this process because, as I always say, “No one will care about your job search as much as you”.
P.S. I’m happy to announce that The Purple Parachute is now an audiobook on Audible. If you love listening to your books, please give it a try and share your feedback.
