Want a new role before the new year? Your timeline starts now

Define your next step

In our experience, a mid-senior level job search can take anywhere from 1-4 months depending on the role, the company, and the industry. For a more senior or highly competitive position, the process may be longer still. A successful search begins with getting clear about what you're actually looking for. Take time this month to define where you’d like to go next in your career.

Once you have more clarity on your next steps, take a close look at your LinkedIn profile and your resume. 

• Does your headline position you toward the kind of work you want to do next? 
• Is your list of past positions on your resume and LinkedIn telling your story well? Is there anything that is no longer serving you?
• Does your About section and career summary communicate what you do well, or does it simply summarize where you've been?

Your profile should make the next step in your career feel logical to a recruiter or hiring team. They should be able to quickly understand where you’ve been, the value you bring, and why the role you’re targeting makes sense as your next move. This means understanding the throughline between your experience and the role you want next, and making that value easy for someone else to see. For more advice on updating your LinkedIn and telling your story well- check out our recent interview with personal branding expert, Danielle Hughes- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35rZEs4fwsc 

Build a Target List

One of the easiest ways to lose momentum in a job search is to confuse activity with progress. Submitting dozens of applications can make you feel productive but beyond entry levels, online applications have little return on investment. Instead, start researching companies and thinking about the kinds of places you’d like to work next. Look at top players in your industry and organizations that hire talent with your skillset. Once you’ve got your list, start to look for people in your network who may know someone inside these organizations.

One of the best ways to get a leg up on your job search is to reach out to people for informational conversations. Reconnect with former colleagues, mentors, or friends. Come ready with questions about their roles, the organizations they work at, their path, and how they see their industries developing. You aren’t asking for a job, you’re asking them about their experiences and letting them know you’re considering your next move. Your peers and connections might have good insights on career paths or companies to go after. You’re not pressuring them for a job, but they’ll think of you if something crosses their path.

You should also use this period to strengthen your professional credibility. Ask former managers, colleagues, or clients for LinkedIn recommendations where appropriate. Remember that networking is a two way street, as you ask for recommendations, you should also endorse people you genuinely enjoyed working with.

In this period, if interesting opportunities pop up, go ahead and apply. If you do have to apply cold, look for some connection to the company- an old colleague, friend, or even a fellow alumni from your educational institutions. Any potential leg up is worth it. 

If you've built momentum earlier in the fall, the end of October and November may be when conversations become more serious. As you begin interviewing, remember that at the mid-to-senior level employers aren't just evaluating whether you can perform the responsibilities listed in the job description. In fact, if you’re interviewing for a job, you can assume that they believe you’re qualified for it. What will differentiate you is your narrative. Employers are trying to understand where you've been, how you think, and why you're the right person for this opportunity at this time.

This is when preparation starts paying off. Those months of deciding what you want to do next and fine tuning your story will set you up for success in the interview process. The informational interviews you did early in the job search will help you practice sharing your elevator pitch. Interviewing is a skill and you’ll improve the more you do it- this is why we encourage candidates to have as many informational conversations as possible in the job search. It’ll help you get in the rhythm of talking about yourself and asking good questions.

Ideally, by December, you're weighing an offer or preparing to make the move into your next role. But if the right opportunity hasn't come together yet, keep going. Hiring timelines shift and the work you did this fall will help you move forward. By now, you've clarified what you're looking for, strengthened your materials, activated your network, built a targeted pipeline and, hopefully, started having meaningful conversations. Keep applying. Keep networking. Keep following up. 

There’s no perfect formula for how long a job search will take, but giving yourself more runway gives you more options, more time to identify the right opportunities, have the right conversations, and make a thoughtful decision about what comes next. Whether your new role starts in December or a few months later, the work you put in this fall puts you further ahead.