So much is at stake in a job search that you can become paralyzed. Money, your career, your overall future – so much is on the line when you start looking for a new position that you can feel overwhelmed. It’s hard to know even where to begin.
Beginnings are hard in general. Once you’ve built some momentum, it gets easier to keep things going. But taking that first step, initiating any project, can seem daunting. The important thing is to lay out some initial steps. Once you have a plan and have checked off those inaugural stages, the rest of the process becomes much less intimidating
Here are four tips to help you get started on your job search:
Know Your Goals
Before you start looking for your ideal position, you have to know what your ideal position is. It’s a matter of self-reflection. It’s a broad calculation. You shouldn’t just have an eye on the near future. You also want to map out how that position will fit into your longer-term career ambitions.
In short, you want to have a plan. Outlining your goals, both now and for the long haul, will help you narrow your job search. Meanwhile, it will help you decide what other skills and experiences you should target going forward.
Research Your Options
Once you have figured out your personal career goals, your next step is to understand the job market and what you can accomplish in it. This involves launching a kind of research project, learning everything you can about the type of position you want to find.
We often talk about the job market as a singular thing. However, it’s a collection of smaller markets, each representing a different industry or area of focus. The requirements for different areas vary depending on the situation. This fact applies to the type of qualifications required and the level of salary offered. But it also affects very granular decisions, such as how to organize a resume or the tone of a cover letter.
Prepare Targeted Resumes
In an ideal world, you would prepare an individualized resume for every job you applied to. You could match your experience and skills with the qualifications described in the job posting. The one-to-one correlation would help get the attention of the target company’s HR staff, making it more likely for you to score an interview.
In the real world, that process isn’t practical. You need to send out large numbers of applications, meaning you don’t have the time for infinite customization. As such, personalized resumes become too labor-intensive. However, you can split the difference by preparing a few versions of your resume, each targeted to specific types of positions.
Work with a Staffing Agency
The process of finding a job can feel very lonely. Often, it’s just you and a computer screen, sending your resume out into a judgmental world. Having someone on your side to help navigate the process would eliminate a lot of anxiety.
Luckily, there are places you can turn for assistance. A top-notch staffing agency, like Qualified Staffing, can walk you through the process, step-by-step. They can ease you into the labor market, improving your presentation, and setting you up for long-term career growth.
Find the Perfect Position for You
Contact Qualified Staffing today to find out how they can find the perfect position for you.