All That Prep

Good afternoon all,

With each passing day there continues to be highs and lows. Highs are great and feel as though you are on track to complete something special or you have meaning again. Lows are horrible and feel as though all your experience is not worth much more than the paper your resume is printed on.

In order for each day to have purpose I am treating find a job as though it is a job. After the kids are shuttled to their respective places for the day I am making phone calls to various contacts. The best place to find a position is through people you know. The goal of each call is to try to secure another point of contact within the main contact's business. Each name is then documented in a spreadsheet with the time and date received and the name of the provider. The name of the provider is key to the first contact with the new business contact.

Slowly I am moving away from my immediate friends and business contacts to 2nd and 3rd generation contacts. At this point it is extremely important to create a lasting impression on the individual that you are calling. This is the difference from being referred to others and being considered a bother. You don't want to be lumped in with the latter of the two.

Once phone contacts are completed its on to e-mail. Review all messages and respond and/or followup with a phone call. Included in these messages should be automatic open positions from various employers. This can be setup using many of the on-line job posting sites. This cuts down dramatically the amount of time needed to review open positions.

After e-mail it is on to LinkedIn. Open your account and begin to network. You should try to add one or two new contacts each day. This opens more exposure to you and potentially could bring an open position to YOU! Not only do friends and colleagues use this site, but potential employers and recruiters do as well. Be sure to have a complete profile with detailed work history and experience. It is also a benefit if you engage in LinkedIn groups. Create a topic of discussion and post for the group. The response is amazing and gets you noticed!

The only caution is that once information is in the public domain, it remains public!

All this work has paid some dividends with two interviews!

Good luck hunting.

Until tomorrow - Doug!