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Much earlier on the LYJ blog, I wrote about doing one thing a day toward your career and job search. I went on to develop a handout to use in my classes since many people get overwhelmed by the enormity of a job search and need ideas on where to get started. Breaking the process down into one small action at a time can help move you forward effortlessly.
Here are 30 items from that handout. Print these out and make them your own. Choose seven items on the list below and accomplish them this week. More than seven is great but not necessary. Even on your busiest day or a weekend, choose to take one action. Congratulate yourself for each small step! It truly is the small steps that will start to lead to big positive changes.
1. Contact Person #1 you’ve been meaning to get in touch with.
2. Contact Person #2 you’ve been meaning to get in touch with.
3. Update a past boss on what you’ve been up to and where you’re looking to go.
4. Email one of your mentors and ask to meet for coffee.
5. Sign up for a job website to have job emails delivered to your inbox.
6. Research professional associations in the area you’d like to be working in.
7. Join a professional association.
8. Contact someone in a professional association you’re already in.
9. For women, join Step Up Women’s Network, sign up for their email list, or join a similar organization’s list.
10. Attend a networking event.
11. Sign up for a networking event that is two weeks from now.
12. Clear a pile of papers off your desk to free up mental/physical space.
13. Subscribe to a magazine related to your field of choice.
14. Linked In: Join if not already on. Create a simple profile.
15. Linked In: Add 5 people to your Linked In network.
16. Linked In: Update your profile adding details related to the job you want not the one you have.
17. Linked In: Punch in 3 dream jobs and see who in your network knows someone there. Contact the person you know best and ask to be put in touch.
18. Sign up on a Linked In Group for the field you want to be in; sign up for the next LinkedIn Jobseekers Webinar.
19. Facebook: Clean up your profile to make sure it is professional-friendly.
20. Facebook: Add 3 professional contacts as friends as appropriate.
21. Compose an email to a minimum of 15 people asking them to be on the look-out for job opps for you. (Please see LYJ sample email first before doing this.)
22. Follow up with someone you met a few months ago to let them know your progress.
23. Spend 15 minutes journaling about your dream job.
24. Order a book from the library or online related to your career field of choice.
25. Research listservs related to your career area (by asking friends or contacts already in the field) and add yourself to 1 or 2 lists.
26. Watch 3 videos on RoadtripNation.com of successful people in your area of interest.
27. Tape inspirational quotes from successful people such as the ones on Roadtrip Nation above your desk.
28. Find one small way to “act as if” with the job you want – Example, tell a stranger or acquaintance this is what you do regardless of if you’re doing it yet.
29. Buy (sparkly, sophisticated) notebook to organize your job search and stock up on resume paper.
30. Repair a button on your interviewing suit so that you are ready to meet about a job prospect at a moment’s notice.
Add additional one thing/day items here that would most of most value to now.
31.
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Special thanks to Jill Beirne’s Creating Money NY “Do One Thing Daily” email related to personal finance which inspired me to post this list.
If you’ve been looking for a new job for quite some time, and it’s just not happening, here are some suggestions of what might be getting in the way of your success. As the expression states, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” Start to take a new approach with your job search and see what new and different results come up.
You’re operating at 20% instead of 80%. When I’m working with a group of job seekers, I can usually predict who is going to get a new position first: the people who build momentum by putting in the time and energy it takes to conduct a full job search campaign. Do an honest self-assessment. If you’re not giving your job search your full attention, you may need to start ramping up your efforts to see results. If you’ve sent only two applications in the past three months, ignored recruiter phone calls, and had only one networking meeting, it’s likely you’re not doing enough on your search. (Note: This is not to be confused with the 80/20 rule mentioned in time management books, which refers to being more efficient in your efforts. What I’m talking about is simply not putting enough effort of any kind into your search.)
You’re doing your job search alone. Jobseeking can be a lonely task. It’s much more productive, and fun, to enlist the support of others. Two women job seekers I know created a 40-Day Challenge for themselves where they committed to sending one job application daily for 40 days. They are holding each other accountable for reaching this goal. I created the LYJ classes around the idea that most of us are more successful when we have support, encouragement, and accountability.
You’re focused on quantity and not quality. You could be sending out 50 applications daily, but if you’re not tailoring your resume and cover letter and doing zero networking, you may be waiting a long time for a response. Effective job searches are about spending quality time on each application, connecting the dots about the match for the specific employer, and using your networks as much as possible.
You are applying for the wrong positions. This indicates a lack of clarity about your strengths, interests, and abilities. Before launching into a job search, it’s important to do an assessment up front of your skills and what you’d like to do next, then see where there are opportunities that match. Even in a tough economy, it’s easier to do a job search when you’re focused and confident about the areas you are pursuing.
You’re not networking, especially not with your target companies. Do you have a list of 10 to 15 target companies? Have you started to tap your network for contacts at these companies before positions are posted? Are you using LinkedIn to build your professional brand and to learn where your contacts are working and in what positions? Have you let people know what you’re looking for? If the answer is no to any of these questions, it’s likely you are not networking enough. Remove your job application from the black hole of 500 other applications by using your networks. This is not optional!
You’re desperate and it shows. Just as nobody wants a date with someone who gives off lonely and needy vibes, no one wants to hire a candidate who is desperate. If your financial situation is dire, you’re not in a very powerful position from which to conduct a job search, especially for better-paid professional level positions. Focus on short-term financial stability first and then continue with your search. Try to adjust your mindset by accepting the present moment, and use daily affirmations to be a positive-minded future employee. This will help dispel any scent of desperation you may unknowingly be giving off.
After researching a wide variety of time management materials for my LYJ classes, I’ve determined that my favorite and most effective resource is a simple article by Christine Kane. I’ve received permission to re-post here on the LYJ blog.
In my class, I have participants read the article aloud. I then ask everyone to go back and circle one or two items on the list that, if implemented, would have the biggest impact on their day and on their goals. Each person gets to share what they picked and why.
Take a look at the nine items below. Which of these would have the biggest impact on your life were you to implement it? Make a commitment to try one out for one month and notice any changes. I’m willing to bet you will begin to see greater results in your job search or other important areas of your life.
9 Simple Solutions for Procrastinators
by Christine Kane
Procrastination isn’t about laziness. It’s about fear. It’s about perfectionism. It’s about overwhelm. We all experience it, and there are some tricks to help you get moving again.
Here are 9 ways to break the procrastination habit:
1 – When you get an idea, do some little thing to begin.
When I read Stephen King’s book On Writing, I noticed something. I noticed that when Stephen King gets an idea, he writes it. Immediately and imperfectly.
Most people get an idea. Then they sit there. They wonder if it’s a good idea. Then, they wonder if it’s a good idea some more. Got an idea? Begin it now!
2 – All hail small chunks of time!
Lots of us complain about having no time. My guess is that we all have lots of time. It just doesn’t happen to be all at once.
Are you waiting for many hours of spare time to begin your idea, your project, or your taxes? Stop waiting! Learn to use the spare half hour that comes up here and there. (I gave myself 45 minutes to write this article just to take my own advice.)
3 – Agree to do it badly.
Set a goal to do it badly. Set a goal to show up. Let go of doing it ALL, or doing it WELL.
Some of my coaching clients’ biggest victories have a lot more to do with getting over perfectionism and fear, than they do about getting it all done perfectly.
4 – Commit aloud.
Call a friend and say something like this: “I’m going to spend the next half hour working on my Law School Essay.” Then go do it.
Call the friend after the half hour and make her congratulate you. Repeat daily.
5 – Define quantities.
Nebulous goals make for nebulous results. “I’m gonna get my office organized” is a lot like saying, “We oughtta do something about Global Warming.”
Most procrastinators have a hard time defining quantities. We think everything needs to be done NOW.
When are you going to do it? For how long? Which part of your office? The file cabinet? Or your desk?
Define the goal and acknowledge its completion.
6 – Install this System Upgrade into your Mental Hard Drive: Less is More.
Have fewer goals. Have no more than three priorities for a week.
Why?
Because you’re not lazy. You’re just trying to do too much.
Find out what it feels like to accomplish one thing instead of not quite getting to everything. Wow – what a difference this makes!
7 – Do it first.
My first coach made me write songs first thing in the morning. He told me to schedule the 2-hour chunk as my first activity upon waking.
Why?
“Because you’re telling the universe that this is your priority. And then the universe lines up everything to align with your priority.”
Action grounds your priorities. It makes them real. It also makes your day easier because you’re not wasting energy thinking about this thing you’re supposed to be doing.
8 – Avoid nose-bleed activities.
Email, voicemail, web stats – any activity that bleeds itself into your whole day becomes a non-activity. It becomes a nose-bleed. When you do it all the time, you never complete it. You just let it slowly drain the very life force from you. Define times for these activities. Then, turn off your email, your cell phone, your web stats, until that time comes.
9 – Don’t ask how you “feel” about doing the activity.
Have you ever committed to getting fit? And then when the alarm goes off, you lie in bed thinking, “Do I really feel like going to the gym?” (Like you even have to ask!)
Change this pattern. Make your decision the night before. Commit to getting up and going right to the gym, the computer, the blank canvas. Don’t have coffee and sigh and think, “I’ll probably feel more like it at lunch time.” You won’t!
If it’s a priority, don’t waste time asking yourself how you feel about doing it. Feelings are an easy out.
Christine Kane is the Mentor to People Who are Changing the World. She helps women and men Uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly Uplevel You eZine goes out to over 20,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://christinekane.com.
Jen Bird
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Alyssa Best
