GUEST COMMENT: 10 habits that will help you find a new job
Landing a new job is not about one-off activities. It is about doing things, consistently, and on a regular basis. It's about creative habits, and routines.
If you want to find a job, these are some of the things that you should be doing.
1) Physical exercise
Where possible, start the day with some form of physical exercise; a 20 minute walk, a run, a swim, hitting some golf balls at the driving range - whatever you fancy.
You'll get an instant "hit' of endorphins, feel good and be much more likely to be proactive in taking actions.
2) Follow up / chase up
80% of job search success is in the follow up; so on a daily basis your first job should be to review your spreadsheet with open leads and applications to see who you can chase for feedback on resumes/CVs sent or follow up on conversations that you've had.
3) Talk to at least X number of people a day
Please don't sit in front of a computer all day looking for work. You should be speaking to people every day; whether ex-colleagues, ex-clients, friends, contacts or referrals.
4) Reach out to least X number of people per day via email
'Keep in touch' emails to people you spoke with a few weeks back, emails to share valuable information with contacts or update emails to contacts to catch up and update them on what you're doing currently.
5) Review job sites/newspapers/trade journals for vacancies
Have a daily routine of looking at job sites and reviewing job alerts from websites you're signed up to.
Make applications, record them on your spreadsheet and mark diary dates for when to follow up.
6) Record your accomplishments
Like a sales process, job searching is all about celebrating the "small wins". The small wins are what keep you going on your bad days and weeks.
So at end of each day, make a note of your top 3 accomplishments and get into the habit of giving yourself a little pat on the back (no matter how small).
7) Plan the week ahead
On a Sunday or Monday, plan your priorities for the week ahead. Your top 3 priorities of the week, who you plan to call, who you plan to mail, who you plan to meet in the next two weeks (plan meetings 2 weeks ahead).
8) Spend at least one day a week 'out and about' for face-to-face meetings
These can be with ex-colleagues, ex-clients, friends, family - it doesn't matter.
If you're currently not working, then start off with one day a week - but ultimately you're aiming at meeting at least 3 people per day, two days a week. So you should have 6 people a week booked in your diary for the week ahead.
9) Go out socially at least once a week
Many job-seekers go into hiding; they avoid going to parties, dinners and generally become unsociable due to a slight dip in confidence. But when you're job searching, you need to be more visible than normal.
And don't go with the intention of 'networking' but simply to give yourself a break and the chance to meet and engage with people. You never know who you'll meet and where a conversation could lead to.
10) On a monthly basis, go and do something which either adds to your resume/CV or exposes you to new people and new experiences
Learn something you've always wanted to learn by taking a one-day workshop or an online course.
Do some volunteering or charity work. For those in the UK, take a look at this site:https://www.do-it.org.uk/.
Write an article on something you feel confident about and share it with friends and professional contacts.
Offer yourself as a speaker to the local school or college to talk about a business-related subject that they would find valuable).
Approach your local church, mandir, mosque or synagogue and offer to help out in some way.
All of the above give you exposure to new people, give you things to talk about when people say "so what have you been doing?" and show you in a good light when interviewing.
They also give you a sense of satisfaction which is so very important for job seekers.
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