Prior to starting a job search, job hunters must be able to answer the following five questions about themselves, the position they desire and the organization where they are seeking employment.
1. What are my employment needs?
2. What is my career objective?
3. How can my skill set be of value to an organization?
4. Which organizations can benefit from my skills?
5. Who within an organization can effectively evaluate my value to the organization?
Job hunters must be aware of their employment needs in order to locate desirable positions that are suitable for their specific needs. Employment needs are typically tied to five essential needs. While the importance of these needs vary from individual to individual everyone needs all five to be content and productive in the workplace:
· Survival: the need to work and support oneself or family.
· Social: the need to associate with other employees.
· Pleasure: the need to enjoy what you do.
· Autonomy: the need to make choices in your work.
· Power: the ability to find purpose in your work.
Job hunters must be aware of their skills, abilities, strengths and priorities before they can determine their career objective. The three basic categories for skill assessment are:
· Technical: Expertise in product usage, equipment and/or the ability to perform specific job related tasks.
· Communication: Proficiency in disseminating information.
· Organization: Effectively manage time, tasks and/or people.
Determine the benefits of your specific skills and strengths and search for an organization that has a need for your assistance. Items to focus on when doing this search are:
· Size: Smaller companies may benefit from a person that has a broad skill set, whereas a larger organization might require a more defined set of skills.
· Maturity level: Companies in a growth stage may need an individual that has good organizational skills to assist them with establishing policies and procedures. Companies in a more mature stage could be seeking someone to help maintain existing goals and objectives.
· Industry: Often times technical expertise is industry specific. Make sure your skills match the company's industry specific needs.
Once you have selected several prospective organizations devote your research efforts into identifying the individuals who have the power to hire you. Target the managers of the functional areas that would meet your career objective and skill set. Submit your cover letter which should detail how you can benefit the organization and your resume which contains your career objectives, skills and professional accomplishments to the individuals that are in the key positions to hire you. Make sure you include in your correspondance a time in which you will be availble to meet with these indiviudals to further discuss your qulifications.
Finally, visit the human resource office of the organization and complete an application. While onsite, give the indivudals you have targeted a call. Tell them you recently submitted a resume to them and was currently in the building filing your application. Ask if they have a few moments for you to visit them. Who knows, this may be your lucky day!
MCN Staff