Quit the Job Search Panic: Find Your Destination and Define Your Strategy
Quit the Job Search Panic: Find Your Destination and Define Your Strategy
Every week, I speak to at least one executive job seeker who is in panic mode. These executives are in job search panic, and you might be, too, for a variety of reasons:
- You heard the company is restructuring and you might lose your job.
- You know the company is laying you off soon.
- You have been assigned to a new manager or executive.
- You’ve been out of work for some time.
- You’re a go-getter, and any time spent job searching is better spent actually working in your next role.
- Or, the biggest cause of job-search panic: The wait between developing your resume and hearing back.
If you are experiencing any one of these panic-inducing scenarios, then you’re probably very concerned about when that next job offer is coming. You might even be applying like mad to every likely possibility on job boards or LinkedIn. I’ll bet money that it feels like a ton of work. I’ll bet it also feels like you’re a hamster on a wheel, exerting a ton of effort and going nowhere fast, and increasing your sense of panic all the while.
Calm the Job Search Panic: Get off the Job Search Hamster Wheel
Can you imagine a job search that fees calm, controlled, and panic free, not to mention EFFECTIVE?
Having worked with hundreds of clients throughout their job search, I’ve seen these situations come up dozens of times. In every case, an executive job seeker can shorten the time between job search panic and job search success with one or more of the following strategies:
Define your job search goal: If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there. Drive your job search forward by determining the type of company, the industry, the level, and the role you’re after.
Read voraciously: Explore industry resources, regional business journals, company web sites, and public relations pieces to inform your knowledge of the industry. You’ll learn more about the state of the employment economy by learning which companies are getting funded or are growing by reading about their goals and strategies than you will by reading their job postings.
Talk to people of influence: By “influence,” I mean people who can inform your strategy. These can be peers, industry insiders, and hiring managers. Remember: Not every conversation should start with a question about whether the person is willing to hire you.
Set up a job search project plan: As Rudy Giuliani said, “Because ‘change’ is not a destination, just as ‘hope’ is not a strategy.”
Quit the Job Search Panic: Find Your Destination and Define Your Strategy
By taking control of your job search and establishing your process and goal before you start, you will manage your job search panic, whether you’re concerned about your company’s layoffs or in the midst of an active job search now. You know the pieces of the puzzle you can control, so take action on your executive job search now to avoid that paralyzing job search panic.
