Two Types of Job Search

You can basically have two types of job search: successful and unsuccessful. It’s tough to conduct a successful job search if you don’t:

• Know the direction you want to go, including the options that make sense for you.
• Research the companies or organizations you’ll be submitting to.
• Pay careful attention to the information provided about the job you choose to pursue.
• Identify your potential value with specific regard to selected employers.
• Develop a resume (plus any other relevant materials) that highlight your value convincingly.
• Look for ways to avoid getting lumped-in with hundreds or thousands of other job-seekers.

If you haven’t yet decided on a career direction, your job search will be haphazard at best. In that case, exploration should be your first step—career coaching works well for that.

Management Job Searches:

If you’re in senior management, particularly the executive ranks, your job search exhibits characteristics that tend to distinguish it from searches conducted at lower levels. You’re less likely to throw your resume onto Monster.com and wait for the calls to roll in, for example. You may have an extensive network of contacts you can tap into to spread the word about your new goal. At the same time, you’re aware that fewer opportunities exist and vacancies open up less often, the higher up the ladder you go.

I’ve worked with senior managers and executives who wanted to move up in their current company, as well as those who plan to relocate to another geographical area and those who want to transition to an entirely different industry, such as from the corporate world into a nonprofit organization. I can partner with you to scope out the steps and plan the search for your particular objective.

Online or Offline?

Depending on your situation, you can conduct an online job search, an offline job search, or both. For many people, doing both could represent the best approach. Unless you have a direct pipeline to a specific job opportunity, you stand to benefit from expanding your options and your “reach,” rather than limiting the search to one method.

Caution: Don’t devote too large a portion of your time and energy to the Internet. Technology can certainly be a useful tool, but it’s only one tool and not always the most effective. The #1 method for finding jobs still seems to involve networking with contacts you already have or can develop—in other words, the personal touch.

Job Search Tools Worth Investigating

• Industry associations, preferably those with a local chapter in your area.
• Community and special-interest organizations (Kiwanis, Lions Club, Sierra Club, etc.) and job support groups, such as the California Employment Development Department’s Peninsula Network (PenNet) group.
• Online news groups and/or user groups: You can’t lobby people for jobs there, but you can tactfully establish visibility and contacts that may eventually provide leads.

A Successful Career
Division of Adept Business Services
1096 N. Central Avenue
San Jose, CA 95128-4104
408-244-6401
Copyright © 2005-2007
All Rights Reserved