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How To Start Your Job Search

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job search startThe Job Search Journey Begins

Could you benefit from some useful job search tips?

To that end, I thought you may find it helpful if I share with you on a regular basis the steps that I engage in to secure a clinical social work position.

I also thought that we may be able to help each other out in our search. As Chuck Blakeman suggests in his post Goals and Friends are like Peanut Butter and Jelly, it helps to write down your goals, share them and have supportive friends. (Thank you, Terry at @WorkIntegrity for sharing this article.)

Furthermore, as Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter points out in her post, Who’s Encouraging You?, it is important to build connections with positive and encouraging people in your life who may support you not just through your job search efforts but through life’s inevitable ups and downs.

Therefore, while doing what you have to do, please also try to spend time with friends and colleagues who can be there for you 🙂

And now for my plans to date…

Initial Job Search Goals:

  • Update resume
  • Update linkedin profile
  • Request a linkedin recommendation from internship supervisor(s)
  • Send email to two people at this year’s placement for possible contacts/referrals

I am happy to report that the above goals have all been met.

This Week’s Goals:

  • Follow-up with the two people I had emailed last week ( (if I haven’t heard back, to call and find out if they received my email; if I have heard, to thank them)
  • Send out an email to a third person at this year’s placement
  • Send out emails to 2 or 3 people from last year’s placement
  • Put together a basic cover letter and ask one of my professors to look it over
  • Write out rough draft answers to some potential interview questions

This may actually be too long a list of goals to accomplish in one week with school, needing to follow up on a potential internship lead, as well as the other things on my plate…but I think it’s a good place to start.

One tool that you may find handy to keep track of the people you are contacting be it via email, phone or snail mail, is a contact tracker like the one below.
Contact Tracker

This is something that I’ve used in the past based upon an earlier edition of Martin Yate’s Knock ’em Dead 2011: The Ultimate Job Search Guide.

Alternatively, you could use Jibber Jobber. This is a free online organization tool that you can use to store information about your contacts, as well as keep track of your progress.

What would you add? 

Also, does this idea of my keeping a job search weekly or biweekly journal sound like it would be something helpful to you?

Please let me know what you think…

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Comments

  1. Terry says

    Hi Dorlee,

    Great post. I am going to share this with some of my clients. Breaking down the process into simple steps is a very useful thing to do, and I really like your tracking chart.

    And it is always important to remind everyone that relationships are what its all about.

    Thanks Dorlee!

    p.s. Thanks for mentioning me.

  2. DorleeM says

    Thanks, Terry 🙂

    I find that breaking up the process into simple steps makes it less overwhelming…and yes, it is because networking is deemed as the most effective way of finding a new position, that I not only start my jobsearch efforts this way, but will ultimately put most of my efforts in this basket, so to speak.

    Thank YOU for being there…

  3. Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, MRW says

    Hello Dorlee,

    I love this post! And I am sure many readers encountering a job search are grateful for your sharing not only the nuts and bolts of how to start, plan and initiate a job search, but for your pulling back the curtain on YOUR initial and current-week’s job search goals. (A great, concrete illustration.)

    How generous of you; and, if you are like me, writing it down for yourself, and then writing it down for the blog further reinforces the goals/action steps. I also like how you said that even though you may have more bulleted ‘goals’ on your list than are attainable in one week with school, it’s a good place to start. Heck, you can always pull unfinished bullets to the ‘next week’s goals.’ The point is having a concrete set of steps to take, and one by one, crossing them off. Feels so good!

    So, YES, the idea of keeping a job search weekly/biweekly journal DOES sound helpful (and pragmatic, and actionable). You WILL see results by doing this.

    Off the cuff, the only thing I would add would be to say that, if, along the way, you find that some of the goals you have written down ‘change,’ or if you change course in any way, be unabashed about editing/reshaping your plan – it’s YOUR plan, customizable as YOU see fit.

    Finally, thanks SO much for including me and my blog post in your post. I’m quite honored that you featured that link – and I’m touched because writing that post was so meaningful to me at the time (and still is). Nice to know you found value in it. Thanks also for sharing Terry’s link: I’m going to read it just as soon as I hit ‘send’ on this comment.

    I’m so excited for you as your career change journey continues to unfold!

    Regards,
    Jacqui

  4. DorleeM says

    Hi Jacqui,

    Thanks so much for your kind feedback on this post 🙂

    In sync with your twitter handle, “ValueIntoWords” you have truly provided “value-added” job search tips!

    Thank YOU for being one of my “encouragers” along my career journey.

  5. njsmyth says

    Terrific post, Dorlee. I’m going to share it with our students who are looking for jobs.

    I don’t have much to add here because you have all the essentials covered. Just a few odds and ends:

    * Make sure you have your skills in social media noted somewhere on your resume. More and more non-profits are starting to recognize that they need to be using these tools. Seeing that you have some skills in this will make you stand out.

    *Don’t be afraid to reach out through your connections. For example, on LinkedIn, send messages to everyone to let them know you’re looking and would appreciate any leads or introductions they can give. Remember that most jobs never end up advertised. For the same reason, don’t be shy about just sending your resume to agencies you would like to work for, even if they aren’t advertising.

    *Make sure that you mention that you’re on LinkedIn and that you have some references there (once you do). Give people the public profile URL

    *I don’t know if it will be useful or not, but I’ve been collecting articles on Job Searching in a public folder (I probably heard about many of them from you!): http://www.evernote.com/pub/njsmyth/jobsearch

  6. DorleeM says

    Thanks so much, Nancy, for your kind feedback and for sharing all these great job search tips!

    That is also so nice and helpful that you have been saving the good job searching articles that you have been coming across in one public location.

    There are two questions that come to mind to me regarding the social media skills component:

    1) How would you go about inserting this into your resume? Is this something that you would put along with your skills or other qualifications section?

    2) And if so, how would you actually describe the ability to tweet/blog in professional resume-like language?

    Interestingly, this topic was not at all brought by my career development office in their resume/cover letter workshop.

    Thanks again

  7. njsmyth says

    I would put it under skills, something like “use of social media (e.g., Twitter, blogging) to build an online social work community” or “to facilitate dialogues related to social work, wellness, work/life balance.” This emphasizes the professional nature of what you’ve been doing and identifies the skill set too.

    And I’m not at all surprised that those resume workshops didn’t mention it…IMHO they tend to lag behind trends

  8. Marianna says

    How can I top what you’ve already planned or the excellent advice you’ve received from your readers? I can’t.

    So, all I can say is that your generosity and willingness to share are two powerful assets any employer would value.

    Here’s to finding the job that is a perfect fit!

  9. DorleeM says

    Nancy,

    Thanks so much for your suggestions on how to incorporate social media skills into one’s resume.

    Actually, on second thought, are you sure that my blog, as an example, would be seen, by every prospective employer as an asset?

  11. njsmyth says

    There’s no way to predict how anyone will view anything, some employers would be fine with it, others might not. f you are more comfortable you can just mention your knowledge of Twitter, and growing knowledge of Facebook, or leave it generic, using social media to facilitate dialogues, etc.

  12. DorleeM says

    Thanks so much, Nancy, for your thoughts and guidance on how to incorporate the social media component into one’s resume 🙂

    As to how I will address this particular issue, I’m not sure yet. I need some more time to think this over…

  13. cb says

    Great post. Good luck with the job hunt although I don’t have any doubt about your success and ongoing success in your career.

  15. Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed., LPC says

    Dorlee, I started writing a comment here and accidentally his “post comment” prematurely. Hopefully you don’t get a duplicate here:).

    Thanks so much for this fabulous post – Once again it underscores how generous you are in sharing your experiences, your knowledge, and your journey. Thank you!

    Both yours and Nancy’s suggestions for job hunting resonate for me. I will certainly be passing this post on to my supervisees who will be joining you in the job hunting this summer.

    As for your social media skills, I think they are exemplary. Your blog presents you as professional and wise beyond your years so I say HIGHLIGHT YOUR BLOG IN YOUR RESUME! It shows off your professionalism, your generosity, and also your savvy social media ways! It also highlights your commitment to the profession of social work and your ability to share across disciplines. You go, girl! Some employer is going to be very very lucky to bring you on board!

    Loved this post and I’m happy to retweet it, too!

  16. DorleeM says

    Thanks so much, Tamara 🙂

    You are most kind…Your supportive comments and enthusiasm are most appreciated!

    Best,
    Dorlee