In my ongoing evolution and support of jobseekers, everything that I share are just recommendations that I have used from my past job searching experiences on what has worked for myself. These are also recommendations from many others that have also gone through a search along with feedback from recruiters, hiring managers, career coaches and career advisors. Keep in mind that every search is different and each of the recommendations may or may not work for your search.

What I do want you to take from this is that you have support – a job search is not easy but there is light at the end of the tunnel and I want to make it easier for you.

Getting Started with The Job Search Plan

This tool really helped me when I was searching – it helped me understand what direction I wanted to go and it was a good document to share with connections so they could understand exactly what I was looking for.

What is a job search plan?

This isn’t a resume, it is sharable document that is a valuable start to your search. It helps you stop, think and understand what your next move is and it also helps others understand what you are looking for in detail. You have to be able to understand your what and why, this document does that.

The job search plan has 10 areas of focus.

1) Professional objective – the level you are looking (VP, director, entry level) and details of what you can bring to the table, this is very similar to your resume objective. Explain what your objective is

2) Preferred functions – these are your area of interest. Example would include digital or social media, accounting, engineering and so on.

3) Positioning statement – explains how you fill a market need and how you can stand apart – why should someone consider you for a position. You can provide more

4) Competencies – knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that contribute to individual and organizational performance.

Target market characteristics

5) Geographic location (s) – The city and location in which you would like to work. Remote or in the office. This is the area to share some location expectations.

6) Industry or type of organization – my example would be – Entertainment based industries including telecommunications, programming, sports, tourism, music, movies, publishing, museums, horse racing; Consumer Goods/QSR; Technology; Marketing/Advertising Firms; Manufacturing; Health Care

7) Size of organization – large or small

8) Organizational Culture – What you are looking for in an organizaton; Integrity, professional, teamwork, goal and data-driven, encourages and rewards risk-taking, team-driven, solicits opinions from employees

9) Recent resume submissions – not necessary but will give people an idea of who you are talking to and if you have already submitted your resume.

10) Brand target list by industry – the actual brands you are interested in. I listed mine into 5 different categories. This helps you identify those companies you have an interest in. This part will also help you when it comes time for networking.

🎯 Click here to access to the job search plan template