Blog Post: Three Elements Necessary to an Efficient Job Search

A message to the displaced mortgage, real estate and home building professionals…There is hope!

Finding a job is a job.  Unfortunately it doesn’t pay very well and it takes time and resources to conduct an efficient job search.  Please note I have used the word efficient versus effective.  An efficient job search will be an effective job search; the difference is in the amount of resources you are investing to meet your goals.  Knowing these three elements Who, What, Where will make your search efficient.

The first element to an efficient job search is knowing who you are.  This may sound simple enough but not having an understanding of your skill set, knowing what you can do, what you like to do and how to present yourself in all of your communications, TMAY, cover letters, résumé, thank you letters and interviews will be detrimental to your search.  Learning who you are requires soul searching, reviewing your career, finding your likes and dislikes and visualizing yourself in your next job.  Taking personal preference profiles, reviewing your current résumé, digging out those performance appraisals are ways to reinforce knowing who you are.  Do not limit your possibilities by identifying yourself with a job title, look at skills and responsibilities, qualifications and job descriptions.  Once you discover who you are, you need to know what you want to do.

The second element to an efficient job search is knowing what you want to do.  Remain in the same field, same job level, transition into a new field, follow an entrepreneur's dream, acquire a franchise? These are all options available to the job seeker.  Some choices will get you back to work sooner, some will get you into more secure positions and some will have high risk with high potential for success.  The choice is yours.  I caution that you do not make any decision until you are in the right frame of mind, during stressful times you may not be making the most prudent decisions regarding your career choices.

The third element necessary for conducting an efficient job search is knowing where you want to go; this may sound basic and fundamental though many job seekers will lose focus on this important element as they react to the job market.  Setting a clear direction on where you want to go will help reduce side trips that very rarely work out.  Looking at and responding to positions that you have no experience, transferable skills or mandatory education or certifications is a clear sign that your job search is not focused.

Visit www.mycareerstartshere.com for the remainder of the article including tips on getting through barriers to your job search.