Credit: Robin Reshwan
The new year brings motivation to start a new professional chapter.
For some, it may be the pursuit of the first “real job” after graduating
college (and taking a little time to travel, sleep on a few couches and
so on). For others, it may be a desire to make a change in roles or industries.
Regardless
of what brings you into the job market, the best success comes with
forethought and strategy. Here are three things to consider before
getting started:
1. Does your dream match your reality? It is very easy to paint a
perfect role in your head. You work on exciting projects all day while
enjoying free food, a flexible work schedule and outstanding pay.
However, the truth is that most of the flashiest perks, such as free
food, flexibility and fortune, typically require a stellar professional
background, long hours and the need to respond to work issues 24/7 (or
at least way more hours than 40 per week).
Employers, who are like
the “house” at a casino, must always stay on the winning side of the
employment relationship in order to stay in business. In other words,
they will never give away more than the company gets back through your
talent and results. With great perks comes great contribution.
Before you jump into the job market just because you think the grass is
greener, take some time to consider your priorities as well as your
qualifications. Priorities can be things like a manageable schedule so
you can take care of your kids; growth opportunities to reward the
tremendous effort you give relative to your peers; a fun culture because
you want to make friends and have things to do after work; or high
levels of competition if you are motivated by winning and visible
success.
All priorities are valid, but only you know which ones
are most significant to you. With a solid list of ranked priorities, you
are in a much better place to evaluate your current role as well as
future positions.
2. What can you expect? Once you know your professional priorities, research the requirements, goals and realities of targeted positions.
An easy way to get started is to look up job postings and employers on
sites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed and Craigslist. You will
quickly notice trends in what employers are targeting and paying, and
you will also learn more about the nuances of seemingly similar roles
but at different employers, industries and departments.
The job market adheres to the laws of supply and demand. Highly desired
roles, industries and companies will always have greater barriers to
entry (because they can). They may also have lower pay, because more
people are willing to do the work so high pay is not required to attract
talent.
For example, many people aspire to work in the sports industry, usually
because of a lifelong love of sports. However, if you want to get
started in this industry, expect to be one of hundreds of unpaid
interns. Why? Because so many people are willing to take any shot to get
into this highly desirable, yet relatively small industry. After
working for three to six months as an unpaid intern, only the very top
performers have a shot at low-paid, temporary or part-time roles.
These roles may result in a few people actually building careers in
this field, but most fall away during the first year or two when they
have to pay their bills or when they realize their development may be
better suited in a lesser known or less appealing industry.
If you
match a role to your priority list, you are able to evaluate how well
the position fits into your big picture. You must also consider how
valid your candidacy for the role is if you do not have the majority of
the required skills and background. When a role doesn’t match up, do
yourself a favor and remove it from your targets. If you throw up every
time you fly, a pilot job is not realistic.
3. Who do you know? The most powerful equalizer in any career
search is your network. It is important to have the right skills and
requirements, but you can often move from being just another name on a
résumé to the first candidate in line if you have a contact who can
provide insight into the role and make an introduction
to the right person. However, you do not have to be a career veteran
with thousands of connections to have a useful network – you just have
to know how to tap into the people you know.
Start with a list of at least 20 people who like you and would be
willing to take a phone call from you. These can be classmates,
relatives, parents of classmates, volunteers, previous co-workers and
friends. Do not worry if they aren’t perfect matches for your ideal
career path – they are your advocates and the people who know the best
of you.
Contact these people, and ask if you can have a
conversation to get their advice. In this meeting, present your new
career interest, and ask if they have any advice regarding how you might
learn more about these interests. This method is effective because the
people who can and want to be helpful will likely introduce you to their
relevant connections. On the other hand, if they cannot or do not want
to be helpful, they can just give some surface-level advice. Either way,
you avoided putting them on the spot.
Throughout your career consideration process, be prepared for every conversation, take notes, send thank-you messages and follow up
on every lead or advice given. Polite responses and gratitude go a long
way toward maintaining your network. Offer to be helpful to your
connections, too. Most people like to be helpful if it is easy for them,
so make it easy for someone to want to help you.
In summary, be realistic about where you are today, and become
knowledgeable about where you want to go next. Research, planning and
connections are very useful during a career search. If you map out your
goals and prepare yourself for the time and effort required to land an
ideal role, you will be in great shape in 2015.
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