TL;DR ~ Summary of How To Find A Job
1 DETERMINE Identify what you want to do (job function), the industries in which you want to do it (food, agribusiness, advertising, etc.), where you want to work (geography), who you want to work for (companies or people).
2 RESEARCH Put a list together of the companies and people who can hire you, can provide recommendations and help, or who can share their experiences and how they arrived at this point in their career. Use CRMs like Hubspot, or other tools like Google Sheets, Excel, Evernote, to track your work and keep on task. Put together a solid resume and LinkedIn Profile. Keep your social media clean or hidden. Find companies and people through your network and online research. Use job boards not to just apply to jobs, but to identify companies and research them further; contact the HR teams and hiring managers directly. Build your contacts database.
3 CONTACTS Use your network, or create one. Build your network through friends, colleagues, trade associations, social groups. Reach out to the contacts in your CRM through LinkedIn, email, phone. Schedule calls, informational meetings, interviews. Track all of your touch points on your CRM, spreadsheet or tool you’re using. Follow-up. Set meetings. Follow-up. Get the job!
5 BE CONSISTENT & FOLLOW UP It may take a few tries before you get a response. And when you do connect, continue to stay in touch until you get a conversation, a meeting, a referral, or an answer. And then, always follow-up with a thank you!
6 NEXT LEVEL TIP Want to do the best research you can? Learn some simple Boolean strings and operators. Build a Word or Google Doc of various boolean strings and search terms as go-to’s when doing your research. This can help take your job research to the next level. Boolean strings are keywords, connectors, and terms used in certain ways to get the results you want from search engines. Simple example: (“sales assistant” AND "job" AND “Dole”) Learn more:
www.workable.com boolean article
www.recruitingtools.com boolean assistant
www.socialtalent.com beginners boolean
www.booleanblackbelt.com basic boolean
7 KEEP PUSHING, STAY TOUGH, AND PRACTICE UNCOMMON COURTESY Searching for your next job can be hard. There is a lot of rejection and competition. But keep focused, keep working, be consistent every day, and you will get that new position!
If HR Managers, recruiters, or hiring managers don't reply to you, don’t provide feedback, or don’t give you a decision on their search, try not to take it personally. Everyone is ghosting these days. I have seen internal recruiters (recruiters who work in HR departments at the company who is hiring, not at an agency) who will not get back to candidates after they interview them, and who even give false email addresses to candidates. Conversely, it is almost common for candidates to drop out of a search and not say a word to the company who has invested time in them.
There is no such thing as common courtesy anymore. So, practice uncommon professional courtesy. Be gracious, professional, courteous, on time, and respond quickly. Set yourself apart, follow-up with thank you notes and emails. After each phone conversation and meeting, send a note thanking the person for their time, information, and reviewing your candidacy. And if you are interested in the job, close the sale. Share you are very interested in the position, highlight your experience that fits the role, ask if they are interested in your candidacy, and ask about the next steps to move forward!