- Getting Ready: Get Organized and Develop a Plan of Action
- Develop Your Job Hunting Tactics: Timesaving Tips and Tools to Be a Smarter Searcher
- Fire Hose Technique
- Selective, but Out There
- Come and Get Me
- Go for the Kill
- Time to Decide: Are You an Active or Passive Job Seeker?
- The Plan Is in Place...Now Get Organized Before You Make a Move!
- Create a Tracking Sheet and Job-Hunt File
- Complete a Job History and Accomplishments Worksheet
- Define Your Transferable Skills
- Have a Basic Résumé and Cover Letter Ready
- Develop a List of Keywords
- Set Up a Special Email Account
Complete a Job History and Accomplishments Worksheet
Take a sheet of paper or use a word processing program and create a chronological list of all the jobs you've had, with start and end dates. Include starting and ending salaries, title, and general duties. If you received and kept a copy of your job description, file this with the worksheet when you're done.
Now, forget about your daily tasks for a minute and think about your accomplishments. For example, "created and implemented incoming mail tracking system to expedite distribution of packages and letters," or "trained administrative staff on new intranet." Think of things that are above and beyond the call of duty, and if you can place a dollar value to these, make note of that. For example, "targeted six new clients and passed leads and research information to sales manager, resulting in $65,000 of account work for agency."
Share Your Fact Sheet with Your References
The job history fact sheet will come in handy when you start going to interviews. Contact the people you plan on listing on your reference sheet, let them know (confidentially) that you're actively looking for a job, and that you'd like to list them as a reference. Then, email or mail them a copy of your fact sheet so they can speak accurately and eloquently about you when the reference checker calls.
These are the things you'll be adding to your résumé, too, so think about your accomplishments in terms of how a potential employer views these achievements as transferable skills—things that you can do in your new job that affect the company's bottom line. Remember, an employer doesn't care what you can do. He cares what you can do for him! Which brings me to the next step.