Taking a Strategic Approach in Finding Your Next Job
Aly Bitter
In December, you may find yourself reflecting on what you want to leave behind as the year comes to a close, identifying personal and professional goals to work toward in the new year.
If you feel as though your current job doesn’t have room for growth and/or isn’t getting you where you want to be, there’s no time like the present to make a change! Perhaps you want to switch industries, but it feels too scary or like a really big reach. No matter your reasoning, take advantage of the slower pace around this time of year to really think through what could be next for you, and don’t hold yourself back when it comes to putting together what your ideal role would look like. You don’t always have to know how you’re going to get there but figuring out what you want is a huge and necessary step in taking a strategic approach to find your next job.
For hiring teams, the end of the year is often a major push to complete activities by year-end deadlines. Many businesses figure out their hiring needs for the coming year, budgeting accordingly, so the needs are fresh on the hiring team’s minds. Similarly, going back again to how the end of the year is a reflective time for many, businesses can see movement of their staff as well – those who have decided to make a change or have been promoted, therefore resulting in vacancies that need to be filled. Due to the holidays, there might be a slower turnaround time for interviews to be scheduled and communication (in general) with the hiring team, but this time of year might just be the best time to get your foot in the door.
To get started, put in some time to identify what you want so that you can create your plan. See the theme here — you’re in charge of your search and your carrier journey! Here are a few pointers:
- Take your current job description or one from a past job that you really liked. Identify what it was that you loved about this job: Was it the tasks associated with the role? Was it the company culture? Was it the compensation package? Use this as a jumping-off point to create your dream role. Try not to hold yourself back or censor yourself to be more “realistic.” This exercise is just for you. It’s a fact-finding mission to clarify what you want in your next role. Try to raise the stakes and add new things that you’d like to tackle. You may find that you want to shift into an entirely different industry or that you want to explore education opportunities to get you to the next level – there are no wrong answers here.
- Don’t have a job description or previous role to pull from? No problem – use keyword searches in Google and on job boards such as Indeed or LinkedIn that can pull up a series of similar jobs for you to review.
- Make a list of companies or the types of companies that you really align with – this could be along the lines of interest in the product, similar values, etc. If there are specific companies that you identify, check out their websites to see if they’re hiring or if they have a general resume submission option. If they are hiring for a specific role that you want to apply for, see if you can identify the hiring manager (often listed on LinkedIn posts, for example) and even see if there’s anyone in your network that is associated with that hiring team/company that could help you glean that info.
- Create specific cover letters to go along with general resume submissions, ensuring that your experience and personality shines through.
- Set a goal as to how many jobs you want to apply for each week, and block time on your calendar to submit those applications throughout the week. Keep track of the jobs you apply for (a spreadsheet will do) so that when you do get contacted by the hiring team, you know which application they’re referring to.
- Tap into your network to see if there might be an opportunity to make an introduction with the hiring team and don’t be afraid to look into and sign up with recruiting companies as it’s their job to help companies fill vacancies at no cost to you as the job seeker.
We hope that these tips are a great starting point for you to create your strategic approach to find your new job. Let us know in the comments below which tips resonated most with you, or reach out to me directly!
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of this series which will highlight best practices for applying & interviewing, as well as best practices for communication as a job seeker and what to do in the in-between.
Good luck!
