If you are looking to change job this year, here are three things you need to consider in order to be successful in job hunting:
1. Your health!
Everyone seems to be so busy these days;
- How many times have you grabbed lunch at your desk or running between appointments or worse still, skipped it altogether?
- How often do you reach for a coffee to get that caffeine kick when you are feeling tired or that bar of chocolate to give you a quick sugar boost (I’m definitely guilty of the latter!)?
- How much sleep are you getting or are you still surfing the web late into the night?
- How often do you feel yourself getting stressed out in your current position and wishing that you could just get a better job?
If you are serious about wanting to find a new job, start by taking a good look at your current lifestyle and how it is affecting your health. Now is the time to focus on your own well being, personal health and happiness. By doing this, you will have far more positive energy which is just what you need when job hunting.
2. Don’t be afraid of change!
Sometimes we stick to a job we don’t enjoy and aren’t really suited for because it’s ‘safe’. Change can be scary; what if you land that great job and then find that it is much harder than you anticipated? And there can be the fear of rejection if you don’t get the first job you apply for or maybe you believe that you just aren’t qualified to do anything else? So much negativity! If you want to be successful in your hunt for a new job, you need to start with a positive attitude:
- Don’t think you are qualified? Go and find a course and get the training you require.
- Scared to move out of your comfort zone? View change as an exciting new challenge – if you don’t try, you will never know what could have been.
- Fear of failure – what is the worst that could happen? Maybe you won’t get the job but at least you will have tried!
Seize all the opportunities that come your way and watch yourself grow; you’ll be amazed by what you can achieve by just pushing yourself a little.
3. Know your personal brand!
You never know where or when your next job may come along (my first consultancy job came about as a result of speaking to someone in the school playground when waiting for my kids to come out of school several years ago – it was a fantastic opportunity and an amazing job!). This means you need to have a clear and coherent personal brand or elevator pitch. By spending some time creating your own unique personal brand, you will be more than prepared for meeting new people and introducing yourself at networking events both on and off line. This is also a great tool to use if you are a bit shy and not comfortable at networking – create a great elevator pitch/personal brand, come up with 2 or 3 questions that you can ask the people you meet and give yourself a goal of speaking to 3 new people at a networking event; you’ll be amazed at how good it feels once you have done this and then you will realise that it is much easier than you first imagined.
Your personal brand is also key to online networking as the majority of recruiters go straight to Google and LinekdIn to find out more about prospective candidates. Get networking online with other people in your industry; you never know they may turn out to be or know your next boss.
There are probably 101+ tips for getting a new job but without these 3 playing a major role in your job search strategy, you are unlikely to be successfull!
If you would like some help in creating a successful job search strategy, please drop me an email, anne@power-to-change.eu and find out how I can help you.
