Career Tip: Getting ready for fall

Hello,
I hope you are enjoying this wonderful weather. As we approach September, the second biggest hiring month (after January), it is a great time to begin to make a career and job search plans. Having a marketing plan will help you eliminate a lot of wasted time and provide some support when things start getting busy and distractions crop up. The big question is what should that plan look like? The answer is: not that complicated. There are just three basic questions that you will want to answer.

1. Where are you heading?
What jobs, professions or fields might be interesting to you? These are your targets. You don’t need definitive targets right away, but you ought at least to have some ideas about what might interest you. If you are looking for a good culture to work in, for instance, talk to people about what you like. You never know who has ideas. If you have no idea at all, just ask people what their work is like or how they spend their days. If you already know where you are heading, start with step two!

2. Who to talk to?
First, pick those targets from your list that are of greatest interest to you. Also see which, because of prior experience or friends in the business, are easiest to pursue. Look for industry groups, alumni and other social groups for people who will be happy to hear from you. Starting with people who want to talk to you and those in whom you are interested may not seem efficient, but in the end it is a lot easier and can turn out to be unexpectedly productive.

3. Why are you talking to them?
Naturally, you will not want to alienate or intimidate any of your contacts by asking them for a job, as it is unlikely that anyone of them will have the right job for you at that moment (assuming you know what that ideal job is). But, if you can get them talking about their field or their company, and you share why you are interested, including something about your relevant experience, they may have ideas of other people for you to talk to.

To get started on that, list questions you have. These will change over time as you become more informed. Start by turning any assumptions you have into questions. E.g., My understanding is that Marketing departments are increasingly integrating their efforts across new and old media, what is your experience? Other questions may range from ‘What do managers get paid here?’ to ‘Where does your area fit within the organization?’

If you can answer any or all of the three basic questions above, put the results down on paper. It will make it easier to execute. Set aside a little time each week (or even each day) to do this. Just a little time begins to accumulate if you keep at it. See what you can do in 2 hours or less working on it. That way you can have a plan to begin to move ahead in the fall.

If you are currently working, that is not a reason for skipping this exercise. It is never a bad time to be spending a little time on your career!

Win

When is the right time to search?

Hi Win-
I'm a little discouraged that there are so few jobs and so few people who know of anything. People keep telling me this is the wrong environment to be looking for a job, which isn't very helpful. A friend in the headhunter industry just told me that she thinks if I don't have a job by July 1st that I should realize I won't have one till January due to the summer, fall budget season and holidays. I felt like crying.

Any calming words of wisdom?
Carla

Hi Carla,
Your friend quoted common wisdom. In fact September rivals January as the biggest hiring month and do you really think no one is hired except then? Yes. The job market is slower now, but companies are hiring too. They don't like to advertise it when they are letting people go, but jobs still need to be filled.

On the subject of networking, it is important to remember that what you are doing now is finding out more, not finding out who has jobs. You are finding people who you like and who like you. Together you will find out all that is going on. When there are jobs, you will hear about them. What are the odds that the week you talk to someone, that they will know about an open job? Pretty small I would say. You are not talking to people to find out about jobs. You are talking to them to find out more, about their part of the industry, their company, their department, their boss. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but focusing on building those relationships is key. If people like you, they will keep their eyes out for you. People think the only way they can help you is to point you to a job. It just ain't so.
Win