Career Success: 3 Tips To Kick-Start Your Job Hunt

Life is too short to waste your time and energies with a job you don't love. And yet compared to the amount of time, money and effort we put into education and training, how much time do we really spend learning about what really drives us? Or about what job search strategies are most effective when you're not just looking for any old job, but in finding or creating work that's right for you?

In the 21st century, traditional job hunting skills are still required but because of widely accessible technological tools, they are no longer sufficient.

DON'T PANIC!

Updating your job search strategy so that it's effective in the 21st century does not mean starting at square one. If you're already conducting a job search, here are three “tweaks” you can make to increase the effectiveness of the efforts you're putting forward:

1. Don't spam out your resume to every job opening you see. Remember, you're looking to find work that you LOVE – not just any old job. It's not unusual for employers to receive hundreds of applications for an advertised opening, meaning that applications not targetted to the specified requirements are often filed in the recycle bin. While sending out tons of resumes and cover letters might make you feel good, if they're not targetted, you're wasting your time and money.
2. The old adage, “It's not what you know, it's who you know” has validity. It always has because we choose to do business with or hire people that we know, like and trust. Think about the hiring situation from the employer's viewpoint. Would you be more comfortable hiring from a stack of 300 resumes sent by people mailing out resumes to every available job opening they could find OR from a lead given to you by a trusted colleague or employee who knows both the workplace and the skills and aptitude of the person being referred? Now, do you have a business card? Does everyone in your circle of friends, family, and acquaintances know you're looking for work?
3. Get yourself and your “brand” online! A great place to start if you're conducting a job hunt is on www.LinkedIn.com. This website has over 90 million users, and is focussed on the world of careers and work. Your Linked In profile is much like an online resume, and if you use it for nothing else it's a great URL to have on your business card so that new contacts and potential employers can find out more about you.

Personal branding is a process used increasingly by job hunters, career changers and entrepreneurs because it incorporates personal success and motivation psychology, traditional job searching tools and skills with 21st century marketing strategies. Learning and using personal branding is a process that can benefit you over the course of your working life, especially in a world of work that is ever changing.