5-Step Action Plan... To Get The Job You Want

Found yourself out of work? Or worried about your job security? Or perhaps you want to try your hand at something new? Whatever your starting point, here’s a five-step strategy to supercharge your job search and leapfrog your competition – straight from a former headhunter’s playbook!

- Dee Khanduja

STEP 1: Research

Put on your detective hat, you’re going on a research mission! All good job searches start with a solid research phase. The following approach will give you clarity on possible career paths and companies you haven’t heard about. You can then create a “target” list. The idea is to try and network to find non-advertised jobs. This method is an old-hat headhunter staple!

Be proactive on LinkedIn

Often our skills can be transferred to another industry we may not have considered, so use LinkedIn to create a target list of companies and industries. You can use the search and the filter functions to go through all available industries from A-Z.

I recommend targeting two industries to begin with. Next, look at companies within them that excite you. Place the leads into Excel so you can keep track of who you are approaching. You should end up with a list of companies you may never have heard of.

I Spy

Another great research trick is to search for contacts at a particular company who are positioned at a more senior level than your target job. Then, go through that person’s employment history to see where they worked before, and what career path they took. You’ll end up with powerful market intel. And your creative juices may start flowing when you see possible career paths and companies you hadn’t considered before.

STEP 2: LinkedIn profile and CV fixes

LinkedIn

Of course, your LinkedIn profile is a key tool during your job search. But did you know it could be more important than your actual resume?