Planning your Job Search

The process of searching for a job can be daunting, and it can be difficult as a job seeker to know where to start with a job search. Taking the time to create a solid plan before starting your job search is a good idea for a few reasons, it ensures you use your time effectively, provides direction for your job search, and it has been shown that it actually helps job seekers land a job, with one study showing job seekers are 30% more likely to receive a job offer. So how do you start your search?

1. Who are you?

Before starting to search for your desired job it is important to reflect on who you are as a candidate. Whether you are searching for your first or your fifth job, you should take the time to write down what skills/experience you can offer a company. These do not need to just be skills that you have a certification for, soft skills are also looked at by companies with a study showing that 93% of employers say that soft skills are “essential” or “very important” when making a hiring decision. Once these skills are written down, look at your resume and update it as needed.

2. What do you want your future to look like?

It is also important to understand what you want to get out of your job search. What is your ideal industry, job title, salary? This may seem obvious, but this is important to narrow down your search. When considering your ideal job title and salary it is also crucial to take into consideration your past experience and skills in order to set realistic goals. Do not set yourself up for failure, this will only waste your time.

3. How much time do you have?

As everyone knows, time is valuable, so it is important to structure it when you are searching for a job. When searching for a job, you should consider how urgently you need a job: if you are unemployed and need to make rent, your job search would be more intense, requiring more time, as opposed to someone who dislikes their job, but is ultimately comfortable. This can also influence other decisions in the process such as how likely you are to compromise on salary, location, etc. To ensure you stay on time with your job search, you should decide how many hours a day/week you want to spend searching for a job… deliberately block out time on your schedule to focus on this, it can make a huge difference!

4. Where are you searching for a job?

There are many job searching methods available, some differ with the level of effort, or the time needed to apply. Some methods you may not have considered such as networking and cold emailing, to some, these methods can seem unlikely to yield results, or like taking a shot in the dark, however you might be surprised with how effective they are. Making personal connections and networking can help you stand out from other applicants, with a LinkedIn survey showing that up to 85% of jobs are filled by networking. Traditional online job listing sites such as Indeed are often aggregates which means there is a possibility of fake job listings, in fact, up to 32% of job listings on Indeed are fake. Our upcoming platform JobsMatch will have only real job listings that have been verified ensuring job seekers will not be wasting their time. In addition, applying to job listings through JobsMatch is as easy as a swipe, learn more about it here.

This is not an exhaustive list on planning your job search, but it should give job seekers a good place to start to improve their job search success. I hope this was helpful, it is important to remember that there is no “correct” way to find a job, you have to find what works for you. Best of luck in your job search!