Introduction–Job Search Lessons Learned: 12 Key Takeaways

My fellow professionals, oh, how the times have changed! I am still not sure I have this newfangled job searching via the internet thing down. It has been nearly a decade since I’ve looked on the open market for a career advancement opportunity. The old ways don’t work anymore.  Believe me, I tried them, and then I remembered a quote from Albert Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So, you have to change, and it is going to not feel right, but you need to.

The majority of this series was written based on lessons learned in late 2016 and early 2017. I was unable to finalize it then, so in 2018, I have gone through and finalized the articles.

I have been non-stop reading books (Kindle is a blessing), reading blogs, trying new things out, hiring résumé writers and career coaches, and whatever else I can to know what to do with looking for new opportunities. One of the things I found out is, you could ask 10 professional career individuals the same exact question and come up with 10 different answers. They may be similar or drastically different. Based on that information, I have come up with what I have learned during this process and what I experienced. Everyone will be different; every industry will be different; however, there should be enough similarities where you can take my lessons learned, apply them, and not make the same mistakes I did.

If you are about to or are already looking for your next challenge, I have six (6) main items I believe you should do prior to looking internally, online, or via your network. Even if you are not actively looking, you should always be open and prepared for new opportunities. If you are actively looking, I have an additional six (6) items you should be doing during your job search.

Due to more lessons learned, this is above and beyond the original article: 3 Things You Must Do Before Starting Your Job Search. There is a lot of information, so I am breaking it down into separate articles, all linking back and forth to each other. Some things you have to do before others, and other things you can do in parallel. Join the conversation and let me know if I missed something, nailed it, or if you would do something different.

Job Search Lessons Learned Navigation

• Intro.

Before

01) Social Media. It is time for a clean-up and health check of your online presence.
02) Self-Discovery. As the famous rock band, The Who, once asked: “Whooooo are you? Who, who? Who, who?”
03) What do you want? It’s not all about them, you are a unique snowflake and you should be confident about that.
04) Networking. If you take only one thing away from this series, it HAS to be this.
05) Résumé Information. The source of truth for your résumé(s), applications, cover letters, and interviews.
06) Résumé. How should it look? I don’t know, has the person reviewing eaten lately? What day of the week is it? Which season is it? Did they recently take time off? Did they get a good or bad review? How was traffic this morning?

During

07) Tracking. Release the OCD!
08) Social Media. Yes, you need to use it. Don’t fight it.
09) Networking and Referrals. That is how important this is, I talk about it twice!
10) Applying. I’ll just tell you now, it feels like a black hole sometimes.
11) Interview. The moment you have been waiting for!
12) Professional Assistance. Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees.

• Conclusion. That’s a wrap.

So here is a question to the community:

“Which topic are you most looking forward to reading?”

Thank you for your time,