Lost Then Found

Welcome to the New Year! Am writing with great relief that I have picked myself up positively after a bad end to 2009. In retrospect, it was probably a good wake-up call for my career. I mean I have not really improved myself and just wasted my time away... Hence, rather than crying over spilled milk, I decided to look for a job that correspond to my strengths. Easier than said, I realize!

Thanks to a good friend of mine, he has provided me with some useful tips to start my job strategy. Basically, a personal marketing strategy provides me with a game plan for my job search campaign, that is, with me, the job seeker, as the product. Every product, even the best ones, won't succeed without a strong marketing strategy. More importantly, the plan needs to be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timely. Setting a step-by-step timeline on how I can land a job is critical.

As what my friend reiterates, finding a job is easy. But finding what I like to do is the real challenge. By listing out my strengths, dream job duties and the gaps candidly, I first evaluate what I can do and not do. For the latter, I have to further determine if it can be addressed through training or work experience. If not, I will have to remove the job duty from my list. Based on the analysis, I will then understand my job wants and market them to the prospective employers. In this first step, I probably have spent two weeks to ascertain my wants.

After determining my marketing skills, I have to locate the job leads through classified ads, or recruitment agencies, or friends and the list goes on. Alternatively, one can write directly to the companies in the industry/industries in need of my qualifications. For the second step, another two weeks have been utilized.

Contacting prospective employers will be the next step. Generally, a resume, accompanied by a cover letter, is the way to go, especially if one is responding to an ad. Also, getting organized is important. If I organize the information, I will not misplace important job details such as titles, duties and email addresses. In other words, no precious time will be wasted searching for the information as I will have proceeded to prepare for the job interviews. Around two weeks to four weeks will be required in this step.

Fortunately, I have found an almost-ideal job through a personal contact. After matching my strengths with the new job's deliverables, I have decided to take up the offer. Having said that, actions speak louder than words. As what my friend says, if I like a job, I will do it well. So check out my next blog to see what I will/have done differently in preparation for the new adventure:)