5 Ways to Capitalize on Your Job Hunt
When you’re on the hunt for a job, the process can quickly begin to feel like a job all on its own. Except it’s a job that you’re not getting paid to do. At times the job hunt can be a war of attrition, and any resource you can add to your arsenal can pay off in meaningful ways.
Spending some quality time strategizing on how to reduce the amount of time you’re stuck in job-hunting limbo can be immensely valuable, both financially and emotionally.
Here are a few tips to consider before tracking down your next job:
1. Decide Where You Want to Go
You must know where you want to go before you start trying to get there.
Otherwise, you risk wasting precious time randomly scrolling your way through job boards or staring at “About Us” pages for companies you don’t even want to work for.
Take some time to organize your thoughts and aspirations before you get started. Identify some legitimate destinations that you know you want first, and then start putting in the work that gets you there.
2. Apply Selectively
This step is a close friend to the one hanging out above it. Once you think you know where you want to go, don’t just start spewing out applications indiscriminately.
Tighten up. Raise your standards.
Every application you fill out takes time, and time is your most valuable resource. Make sure you don’t waste it by applying for positions you’re underqualified for, that requires you to commute farther than you’re willing or don’t offer the benefits you’re looking for. Whatever you’re deal-breakers are, identify them, and only spend time constructing quality applications for a job you’re confident you’ll say yes to.
3. Stick to a Schedule
Most likely, you already have a job while you’re looking for your next one. Even if you don’t, scheduling out your next steps, days or hours will help solidify your vision and smooth out your process.
Set some clear, achievable goals. Map out your next couple of days, or weeks and then just follow along. Whether it’s making calls, chipping in a couple of paragraphs on a cover letter, or coordinating an informative interview, having a clear, consistent schedule is a huge tool to have on your side.
4. Find Time to Network
Enlisting the willing help of other people embedded in the professional world can be invaluable to your job-hunting efforts. It can make an impact on your overall prospects, and at the very least, it will help you alleviate some of the pressure and enable you to feel more positive about the process.
Let people help you. There’s no shame in it whatsoever, and the odds are high that the very person you’re sitting down seeking advice from did the exact same thing somewhere along the line for their career. They’ve been where you are, and, it may come as a surprise, they are usually genuinely happy to help.
5. RHM Staffing
If you don’t know anyone in your own personal circle that you feel comfortable reaching out to (or if the picture we just painted of professionals in your life is a little too rosy), you can always step out of your immediate network and partner with a recruiter.
Perhaps no one is more equipped to help speed along your job search than they are, and they have all the motivation to help you. They get paid to help you get paid. It can be a funny-sounding industry if you aren’t familiar with it, but there’s a time-tested reason that they exist.
Finding a job (let alone the right job) has always been a challenge for people, and recruiters make that process a whole lot easier. It’s that simple. And it’s actually a very rewarding, lucrative and exciting work life for those who do it.
If you’re unsure about where you’re headed as you sit down for the next session in your job hunt, consider a career in recruiting. Energetic, motivated, and competitive people of any background can find long-term homes in this field, and at the very least develop an incredibly marketable set of skills to carry with them into another career path, should they choose to leave.