IDENTIFY YOUR SKILLS AND JOB INTERESTS

To focus on the right opportunities, you need to identify your skills and talents and determine which career opportunities are suitable for you. Self-knowledge is an essential step in job search. It helps you to define the job you want. When you know exactly what you are looking for, you are more likely to find a job close to your ideal.

People who can find the right fit are always successful. They are doing what they enjoy and what they are good at. All of us have enormous potential as long as we can channel our energies in the area of our strengths. You need to put yourself in a career that will pull you in the direction of the greatest personal fit. No two individuals are identical; every person has a different set of skills and talents. It is extremely important to identify your specific strengths and how these match the available career options. Your performance will be superior as long as you are in an occupation you enjoy. Financial rewards and job satisfaction will follow as long as you are doing what you enjoy.

You need to make a written inventory of your transferable skills – the skills you can take from one job to another. For instance, if you have management skills, they can be applied to a position in any industry. The same is true for many other skills. You have to evaluate your skills to see how they match the requirements for a job.

You have to develop a clear vision of what you want. You should think of what you want to become, the job you want, the industry in which you want to work, the kind of co-workers you want to have, the place where you want to live, and the kind of life style you want. You can refine this profile by going through various aspects of your current and previous jobs that you liked or disliked, and how your performance was rated by your supervisors.

You have to make an inventory of your accomplishments, projects and activities that really inspired you, and write down the compliments received for your work. As you prepare the inventory of your achievements, you will find a pattern emerging to show what type of activities you are good at. This analysis will point to skills and talents in you that will be good assets in your career planning.

Before beginning your job search, you need to define what you have to offer to prospective employers and where you want to use your skills.

FIVE STEPS IN JOB SEARCH

Success in job search is a matter of choice. It does not happen by chance. One has to establish career goals, and then proceed in a systematic manner to accomplish those goals. Those who approach job search in a systematic manner are always able to accomplish their objectives.

Let me share with you a framework for achieving success in job search. It is based on many years of experience in selecting employees during my business career as well as my experience as an executive recruiter responsible for attracting management talent for client companies. The steps I am going to describe are inter-related, and one must follow all steps to achieve success.

Here are the five essential steps in the job search process:

1.       First and foremost, you need to identify your skills and job interests and then determine the career you want to pursue.

2.       Second, you need a resume and cover letters that highlight your special skills and value to potential employers so that you will get invited for job interviews.

3.       Third, you need to identify and contact a large number of potential employers who may have job openings that match your skills and interests.

4.       The fourth essential step is to get job interviews, prepare for those interviews, and perform so well in those interviews, that you will be judged as the best candidate for the position.

5.       The fifth step in the job search process is the evaluation of job offers. You need to learn to evaluate each job offer to make sure you are being offered a compensation package suitable to your skills and qualifications.

I plan to cover each of the essential steps in the job search process in the future blog posts.