Mr Jobseeker

It Is Time for Your Check-Up Ms/Mr Jobseeker You dont get a reminder call or post card reminding you that you should evaluate the health of your job search, but you probably should! And wouldnt it be great if your doctor posed questions to help guide you through the check-up?   Thats what this post is going to do. This post is my contribution to a monthly effort of career coaches and resume writers called Career Collective.   What better way to get the job search advice at the same time.   Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter of Career Trend and Miriam Salpeter of Keppie Careers started this project over a year ago!   If you would want to follow us on Twitter use #careercollective. You will find the the other experts responses and thoughts on A Mid-Year Job Search Check-Up after Ive voiced my thoughts! Whether youve been involved in a job search for 1, 3, 6, 9 or more months, now is a great time to evaluate/diagnose whats working and what isnt working for you. My all time favorite saying isIf your phone isnt ringing, what you are doing isnt working. With this in mind, lets try and figure out why your phone isnt ringing and what you can do about it.   Lets use the Stephen Covey method of starting with the end in mind for this, shall we? How many job offers have you had? How many   second interviews have you had? How many interviews have you had since you started your job search? How many times have you been called on the phone (screened) as a result of submitting for a job? How many jobs did you apply for since you started your search? How many of those jobs did you think you would be a great fit for? How many companies did you have an inside connections for? Did you use LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs or Facebook to try and find a contact to reach out to? When you made follow up calls, did you make contact with a live person? Besides the job boards, where are you finding   job leads? How many recruiters (those not employed within a hiring company) have contacted you? How many recruiters have you submitted your resume to? How many have you followed up with and made contact with? Are you connected with them no LinkedIn? How many companies are on your list of potential employers (target companies) you would want to work for? Are you following these companies on LinkedIn and Twitter? Do you subscribe to their company blog? Within these companies, how many do you have an inside connection for? How many new people did you meet last week? How many of those new people have you followed up with (sent a thank you note or connected with on LinkedIn)? How many people did you re-connect with last week (past colleagues, previously met contacts, people within your network)? How many professional association meetings or group events (with employed people) have you attended in the last month? How many new people did you meet and connect with on LinkedIn from these events? Just some other questions to ask to test how socially savvy you are: Do you have an email signature (with phone number, job title, tag line, links to social profiles?) Do you have a LinkedIn profile that is 100%? Are you talking to people within LinkedIn (via status update comments, sharing links with your connections or groups, adding to discussions, submitting or answering QAs) Do you have more than 100 connections on LinkedIn? Are you using LinkedIns apps (Slideshare, Tweets, Box.net?) Are you using Google+, Twitter, social bookmarks? Do you have a personal website or blog? Are you able to answer these questions?   Consider this a baseline if you are not already tracking these things.   People ask me all the time if there are numbers to strive for in these areas.   The answer is yes and no.   More is generally better, however, as with anything, quality is better than quantity. What works for one person, in one industry or occupation, may not necessarily work for another.   The key here is to do more of what is working for you and incorporate new ways of generating leads. PS: These are questions you SHOULD be asking and answering yourself.   You cant adjust your search until you know these numbers and the whys behind them. Career Collective Posts 4 Summer Strategies to Step Up Your Job Search, @DebraWheatman, #careercollective Putting Your Job Search Up On The Rack For Inspection, @dawnrasmussen, #careercollective Mid-Year Job Search Checkup: Are you wasting your time? @GayleHoward, #careercollective What is your unique value proposition? @keppie_careers, #careercollective Mid-Year Career Checkup: Are You On Your Game? @KatCareerGal, #careercollective How to Perform a Mid-Year Job Search Checkup, @heatherhuhman, #careercollective Reposition your job search for success, @LaurieBerenson, #careercollective Mid-Year Job Search Checkup: Whats working and Whats not? @erinkennedycprw, #careercollective Mid-Year Job Search Check-Up: Getting Un-Stuck, @JobHuntOrg, #careercollective Mid-Year Check Up: The Full 360, @WalterAkana, #careercollective 5 Tips for Fighting Summer Job Search Blues, @KCCareerCoach, #CareerCollective Are you positive about your job search? @DawnBugni, #CareerCollective Where Are The Jobs? @MartinBuckland, @EliteResumes, #CareerCollective Mid-Year Job-Search Checkup: Get Your Juices Flowing, @ValueIntoWords, #CareerCollective When Was Your Last Career Job Search Check Up? @expatcoachmegan, #CareerCollective