By Glen Wise

Greensboro.com Triad Careers, July 22, 2018 —

An effective job search in 2018 will require the use of a variety of tools to obtain a position which matches your needs and ambitions. The duration and effectiveness of the search will be proportionate to the variety and efficacy of the tools in the Job Search Tool Box.

A traditional job search methodology utilizes resumes and job postings in public media such as the internet and recruiters to locate the jobs available in the public domain. Yet, the majority and best positions never hit the public domain, but are offered to insiders within the company or to those who are connected to the company in some way such as an acquaintance of an employee.

In addition, a job seeker who is leaving a maturing or dying industry must shift fields. And in so doing, must rely more upon their natural abilities to solve common work place problems than rely upon the knowledge of how the old business was run. Therefore, they must highlight their natural transferable problem solving skills in their resumes and job interviews.

Business owners and middle managers are looking for employees who have the spark of enthusiasm for their work. They want fast learners and aggressive problem solvers. The manner in which you approach the job search will probably determine how you approach your next position.

Therefore, it behooves a serious job seeker to go after all the learning they can get in how to get a job. For history has shown that the person who gets a job is not necessarily the one who knows the most about the job, but it’s normally the one who knows how to get the job that gets the job. A disciplined, well-tooled job seeker will obtain a good professional position weeks or months ahead of a half-hearted seeker.

There are 21 job search tools available to equip a serious job seeker. Seven of those tools in the order of priority for development are:

1. Job Search Strategy

Every job seeker should lay out a plan or strategy for how they are going to conduct their job search. This plan should provide a framework for a routine job search effort and set a standard for daily and weekly performance. This helps establish a discipline which is often missing in a typical seekers performance.

2. Seven Success Stories

Success stories are used to extract your natural problem solving (transferable) skills and serve as corroboration in a job interview. These are brief stories which represent the tasks you or your team did well in previous work assignments. Success stories can also come from accomplishments at home and during recreational activities.

3. Transferable Skills Identified

Transferable skills are needed to construct a resume and a 30-second commercial to highlight natural problem-solving abilities. The methodology in “What Color Is Your Parachute?” extracts those skills from the seven success stories mentioned above.

4. Targeted Fields

When changing a career path or field of work, a job seeker will need to target and focus on new fields. Parameters to be defined are geographic location, working conditions, skills used, associates, career objectives, financial objectives, and working tools.

5. Targeted Companies

Narrowing the search to specific companies in an area helps in becoming an insider for those positions in a central locale. At least five companies should be targeted for employment, with ten or more being optimum.

6. Insider Lookouts

Contacts developed inside targeted companies can aid in getting early leads on insider positions. At least three contacts per large company should be established, with less for small and medium sized companies.

7. Targeted Resume(s)

Targeted resumes are those that showcase your natural transferable skills and are tailored to the needs and requirements of the specific company or department with the open position. They do not include extraneous facts and information that are not relevant to the open position.

Glenn Wise is owner of Right Hire Solutions.

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