Implementing Your Search

[Enda Goodwin]

Ready to Implement Your Marketing Plan?

Once your preparation is completed, there are three kinds of job search to implement: passive, reactive, and proactive. Passive and reactive are easy to do and can be taken care of early in the search. Proactive, of course, is the most important – and for most job hunters, the most effective. Highly skilled job hunters spend most of their time in proactive search.

1. Passive Search is about letting people know of your availability. Posting a profile on LinkedIn and connecting with your contacts through this professional-oriented networking site is the most important part of this. Everything on that page must be consistent with your Marketing Plan. You should also post your resume on LHH’s Digital Talent Exchange so you can be found by the hiring community! Go to the Quicklinks  tab on the menu above and select My Resume Profile.
    
2. Reactive Search is about responding to employers with job openings. There are millions of jobs listed on the Internet. LHH’s JobScout will help you automate the process of connecting with the most appropriate openings. You should also get your resume to appropriate recruiters, staffing firms or temp agencies early in your search. To access JobScout, go to the Quicklinks tab on the menu above and select JobScout.
    
3. Proactive Search is how 70% of LHH candidates find new employment. It is about contacting employers before they have an opening, so that you are on the short list when the opening happens. To be most effective here, a Marketing Plan and a Target List are essential. Visit creating your marketing plan and follow the links to specific parts including the Target List.

Proactive job hunting always involves networking. Many job hunters have an initial negative reaction to networking, because it is so often misunderstood, misused and abused. But honest, well-planned and thoughtful networking is very effective. Those who do it are likely to find better jobs faster.

Progress Measurements: As with any work project, it’s important to keep track of your progress, using numerical measurements. If you have not yet had an offer, or even an interview, how much progress have you made towards them? These measures will tell you. LHH pioneered the use of these in the early 1990’s and continues to be the leader in this search productivity technique. It’s very useful. Below are a few tools you can use to measure your search progress:

• Job Search Work Team Productivity Tracker
• Job Search Work Team Progress Chart
• Planning Your Time Worksheet