Don’t leave your job search to luck

It can be easy to get overwhelmed when job searching. The process is grueling, time consuming, and often, frustrating. Add to that anecdotes of “right place, right time” or “ran into my future boss in an elevator and handed her my resume”, and you might start to hope some miraculous occurrence just happens to you. But these narratives are popular precisely because they’re unique, not because they’re how most people find jobs. When you get it, luck is great, but real job searches get done through strategic effort and planning.

So what do you need when you're looking for a new job?

Clarity and intention:

The most important thing you can have when job searching is clarity. Before you start sending out dozens of applications, take the time to sit down and decide what it is you actually want. Having clarity will save you from unnecessary effort. From there, clarity meets preparation. Know what kinds of roles you might be interested in and have a resume on hand for each one. Take time to research target companies and disruptors in your space.

Targeted applications:

Sending ten well thought out job applications will serve you better than sending a hundred generic ones. Don’t just send things out and hope something will come back to you, get strategic. With the ease of one click apply job postings, companies are inundated with responses almost instantly when they share a job. Putting together a thoughtful, curated resume and cover letter for each role you apply to will help you stand out from the crowd. Combine that with a nice message to the hiring manager or recruiter posting the role and you’ve just differentiated yourself from 90% of the other applicants.

Networking with purpose

Unfortunately, most jobs are found through networking. Fortunately, that doesn't mean you need to have gone to a fancy school or golf with CEOs on the weekend. It just means you need to know how to reach out to people. Start by beefing up your LinkedIn (we’ve got a blog for that here. After that, you need to get used to engaging with others. In our newsletter last month, we went through different ways you can practice networking and find inroads when you see an opportunity you’re interested in. Read the full newsletter here.

Personal Branding

Personal branding gets a bad rap but it’s not about putting yourself out there constantly (unless you want to), it’s about telling your story well. Who are you? What are you hoping to achieve in your job? Why are you the one to do it? Once you’ve answered the big picture questions for yourself, go through your LinkedIn, your resume, and any other public presence you have to ensure that they’re in line with this story.

In conclusion, good preparation and strategy will help you make your own luck in the job search. There are plenty of actionable things you can do to improve your chances of finding a new opportunity. The most important thing to remember though is that the job search is a marathon, not a sprint. Take breaks when you need them, and don’t let yourself get burnt out.