It’s often been said that finding a job is a full-time job. This advice is fine if you’re unemployed,
but it is less useful if you already have a full-time job that requires your attention.
To get better control over your job search time, follow the guidelines below:

1. Set reasonable job search goals—either by time spent or activity accomplished. If
you have a limited amount of time to conduct your job search, strive for efficiency
and set your goals by activity rather than the clock. This kind of structure will give
you a greater sense of accomplishment.

2. Chunk your activities together for maximum efficiency. For example, set aside blocks
of time exclusively for Internet research, make several phone calls sequentially, or
write your resume. This method will enable you to focus and concentrate exclusively
on the task at hand rather than trying to squeeze too many different activities into
too little space. Make sure to set achievable goals in each category.

3. Create a place to keep track of your job search activities. You can use a simple
spreadsheet or word-processor document or make a chart in a notebook to list your
activities along with the time you spent on them, the people you’ve contacted, the
results, follow-up tasks you need to complete, and any other relevant information.
Having such a file will help you quickly locate information you need when an
employer or other contact calls.

4. Reward yourself when you have completed your job search tasks competently and
effectively by doing something you really enjoy.

5. When time is limited, procrastination is not an option. Don’t let yourself be sidelined
with unimportant activities. If you can’t make your job search one of your priorities,
you can’t realistically expect to find a good job.

6. Carve out a physical space for yourself that enables you to have some expectation of
privacy. The kitchen table is not a place for quality solitude or communication with
potential contacts and employers.

7. Learn to view each obstacle as a challenge to your problem-solving skills. After all,
if finding a new job were easy, you would have done it weeks or months or years
ago.

8. For those of you who have the opposite problem—meaning that you are unemployed
and have too much time on your hands—you need to approach your situation
differently. Most importantly, do not conduct your job search in total isolation.
If you have access to outplacement services or a transition center, make it a point to
go to their offices several times a week because people often find it easier to conduct
a job search when everyone around them is engaged in the same activity.

9. Make sure that your job search includes plenty of networking time as well as both
social and professional activities. If possible, join a professional group or weekly job
club and participate in their events. Even if you aren’t a particularly social person,
try to force yourself to stay socially motivated. Successful job hunting is often a very
social experience—so socialize!

10. Don’t get distracted by household tasks or chores. If you’re at home during the day,
don’t think that you don’t have anything to do. For you, looking for a job really is a
full-time job.

11. Don’t neglect your physical or mental health. Job hunting is stressful, and you need
to develop your own personal stress-busting strategies in the form of exercise, meditation,
gardening, or whatever works for you.

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The world is a complicated place, and if you think that job searching within the United
States is tough, it’s even more confusing when you want to live and work abroad.
Fortunately, there are lots of resources that you can use to get the so-called “lay of the
land.”

✔ Going Global (www.going-global.com) is a Web site designed primarily to meet the
needs of international job seekers and professionals. It contains a comprehensive
array of country-specific career information, including resume/CV writing advice,
job sources, interviewing strategies, salary negotiations, and work permit and visa
regulations. It also has country guides, which you can purchase for a reasonable fee;
they are well worth the investment.

✔ Expat Exchange (www.expatexchange.com) is a virtual community that connects
people who are relocating to, living in, or returning from more than 135 overseas
locations. This site provides a great way to network with people who have “been
there and done that,” as well as experts and regional contacts who can answer more
specific questions.

✔ The International Jobs Center (www.internationaljobs.org) is a membership organization
that provides extensive information on international jobs. This includes a
weekly newspaper with more than 500 job postings, profiles of major employers in
the international development market, and an e-mail notification system to alert you
to new job openings in your areas of interest.

✔ Overseasjobs.com (www.overseasjobs.com) is part of the Aboutjobs.com network of
sites (www.aboutjobs.com) that provide free services to job seekers (employers must
pay to list positions). The site has lots of useful information, including country
guides, informative articles, visa/work permit information, and job listings.

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Long-distance job hunting poses a unique set of challenges and therefore deserves special
consideration.

1. Employers prefer to hire familiar faces. Although you know that you are not a visitor
from outer space—just another city or state—you may be perceived as an alien
from another planet. To overcome this perceptual barrier, you will need to familiarize
yourself with the city’s landscape and resources.

2. If you already have contacts in your target location, recruit them as allies in your job
search. Ask them to send you a copy of the local telephone directory and provide
you with the names of major newspapers, business directories, or locale-specific job
search books.

3. Don’t worry if you don’t have contacts in your target location; you can gather this
information yourself by contacting the local Chamber of Commerce to obtain business
directories and any other available information.

4. If you currently live in a city with a good library, the business librarian (or any
librarian who is familiar with the library’s job search and business resources) can
help you identify and locate the information that you need.

5. Plan to subscribe to the local newspapers. Many newspapers now have online editions,
which make it easier to access local information and job listings in a timely
manner.

6. Join a professional association with a national membership and then obtain the
names of the people who head the chapters in your target areas. Network with these
people by telephone or e-mail to make new contacts and learn more about the city’s
resources.

7. You can also use the professional organization’s membership directory to conduct
informational interviews by telephone. Also, don’t overlook the many potential contacts
available through alumni directories from your alma mater. These directories
have proved invaluable to many job hunters who are looking to relocate.

8. When you have the names of potential contacts, decide on your preferred method of
contact. If you represent yourself well on the phone, you can warm up the conversation
with small talk. If you prefer to write first (and call later), e-mail usually works
best, as it is quicker and more efficient than traditional snail mail.

9. Never send your resume to a new contact person as an attachment because they will
probably be afraid to open it. In general, it makes more sense to build some of your
resume information into the content of your e-mail and send the resume at a later
date after you have established a contact.

10. Depending on your profession and level of experience, you can also benefit from
contacting executive recruiters who specialize in your target location. If necessary,
revisit the information in Checklist 45 for ideas about how to make this strategy
work for you.

11. Plan to visit the city, preferably around industry conferences and trade shows, so
that you can make as many contacts as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Also, take the initiative to set up informational or exploratory interviews while you
are in the city in order to become a familiar face.

12. Stay in touch with your contacts. When you are far away, it is a little too easy for
them to forget you. It’s your job to make sure that you become memorable and keep
them motivated on your behalf.

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If you decide to explore the possibility of working with a career counselor, it is important
to choose someone whose style and values are compatible with your needs. There are a
number of ways to identify good counselors.

1. Networking is usually one of the best methods. Talk to the people you know
(including the career services office at your school or alma mater) about any career
counselors who they know to be competent and reputable.

2. Use the telephone and Internet Yellow Pages to identify career counselors in your
community.

3. When you have a name (or preferably a few names) of career counselors, call the
counselors and interview them on the phone about their services.

4. Ask about credentials. Although career counselors do not have to be licensed in
most states, it is in your best interest to inquire if a counselor has an advanced
degree in psychology or counseling as well as specific training and experience in
career and employment issues.

5. If you prefer to work with a counselor who is licensed or certified, you can find a list
of those career counselors at the Web site of the National Board of Counselor
Certification (www.nbcc.org). Use their CounselorFind feature to search for certified
counselors by specialty and geographic location.

6. Ask about areas of specialization and experience. Some counselors either specialize
in working with specific populations (for example, lawyers, doctors, or business
executives) or have extensive experience with certain industries or occupations.
Depending on your needs and situation, you may want to choose someone who is
knowledgeable in your particular field or profession.

7. Counselors vary in regard to their use of testing instruments. If you are interested in
testing, make sure that you choose someone who is comfortable and knowledgeable
about these instruments and vice versa. You certainly wouldn’t want to choose a
counselor who relies heavily on testing if you prefer a counseling modality. Having
said that, keep in mind that there are many counselors who provide both testing and
counseling, depending on the specific needs of the client.

8. Some career counselors make a clear distinction between career counseling and personal
counseling. Others, particularly those who are trained in psychology, recognize
that feelings and conflicts may surface during a job search or career transition
(fear of success, fear of failure, lack of support, and so on) and will work with you
to help resolve those issues. If you sense that you might want to delve a little deeper,
make sure that you choose a counselor who works psychologically.

9. Ask the counselor to provide you with the names and numbers of people they have
worked with who can attest to their capabilities. Although some counselors may not
be able to provide the names of former clients (for confidentiality purposes), they
can and should refer you to professional colleagues who can attest to their capabilities.

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Here is a list of services career counselors offer.

1. Provide individual counseling for career choice, career development, and job search
concerns.
2. Conduct career workshops and job support groups.
3. Administer and interpret vocational tests.
4. Teach job hunting skills and strategies.
5. Write resumes and cover letters.
6. Provide support during transitions.
7. Help resolve emotional and psychological conflicts.
8. Aid clients in developing career plans.
9. Refer clients to outside resources.
10. Help clients improve career decision-making and interpersonal skills.
11. Coordinate services with other helping professionals (social workers, psychiatrists,
psychologists, and so on).

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A career counselor is a job search coach who can help you develop a career plan and
implement a job search strategy. If any of the following situations apply to you, you might
want to consider working with a career counselor.

1. I often get stuck in stressful and/or dead end jobs.
2. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
3. I have trouble getting along with my bosses or co-workers.
4. I often get passed over for promotions.
5. My work bores me.
6. I don’t respect the people that I work for and with.
7. I feel like I’m not living up to my potential.
8. My work is meaningless.
9. I change jobs a lot, but the new job isn’t any better than the last one.
10. I have trouble setting or meeting goals.
11. I had bigger dreams for myself.
12. I often get fired or laid off.
13. I have a reputation as a troublemaker.
14. People take advantage of me at work.
15. I never get any credit for the work that I do.
16. I feel like I don’t have any skills.
17. It’s hard to get up and go to work in the morning.
18. I don’t know how to sell myself.
19. I feel like I don’t have anything to offer an employer.
20. I never get the salary that I deserve.
21. My resume is a disaster.
22. I don’t know what I want to do.
23. I don’t know how to look for a job.
24. I hate authority.
25. I can’t stand the people I work with.
26. I feel like an impostor at work.
27. I’m too much of a perfectionist.
28. My work doesn’t fit my personality.

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It’s both easy and understandable to want to blame the job market for an extended bout
of unemployment, but you do yourself a disservice if you aren’t also willing to consider
that you are contributing to your dilemma. It’s easy to get frustrated with job hunting and
conduct your search in a stale, half-hearted manner. If you continue to do what you’ve
always done—network the same way, send out the same resume and cover letter, and use
the same group of contacts over and over again—without much success, it may be time to
change your approach.

To evaluate what you need to change, answer the following questions:

1. Which of your job search methods no longer seem to be working?
✔ Does your resume generate the kind of response you want?
✔ Do recruiters express interest in you and send you out to interview with prospective
employers?
✔ Do the people in your network continue to send you leads, or do you have the
sense that they’re avoiding you or don’t know how to help?
✔ Do the Web sites that you visit yield appropriate listings, or do you get the feel
ing that they don’t have the kind of position you’re looking for?

As you approach the new work week, make a habit of reviewing this information
and make whatever changes are necessary to generate new leads, motivation, and
enthusiasm.

2. Which job search strategies and techniques are working to your satisfaction?
Obviously, you don’t need to fix what isn’t broken—you just need to do more of
what is working. When you get the kind of responses and feedback that you’re looking
for, it empowers you to get and stay motivated and optimistic.

3. Is there something new that you haven’t yet tried?

✔ A new Web site?
✔ An electronic mailing list?
✔ A job club?
✔ A career counselor?
Instead of dismissing these novelty approaches a priori, why not give them a chance
to work for you? After all, you never know where your next job may come from.

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Learning how to use your references properly is an important aspect of the entire job
search process. The following checklist will help get you thinking in the right direction.

1. Never provide the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of your references on
your resume or employment applications. You always want to meet with prospective
employers first before providing them with any reference information.

2. Do not bring a list of your references with you to job interviews and offer them to
the interviewer at the conclusion of an interview. After you interview for a position
that interests you, you need to give careful thought to the best person to offer as a
reference.

3. Try not to lose track of former employers, supervisors, and colleagues. If you have
lost touch with some people, you may want to track them down early in your job
search process so that you can reconnect with them to jog their memories about you,
reestablish a connection, and give accurate reference information. If you haven’t
worked with your contact person in a while, give them a current copy of your
resume and an overview of your current career goals.

4. Be creative about your reference choices. While direct supervisors are often useful
choices (assuming, of course, that you had a good relationship with that person),
other people can speak to different dimensions of your performance, including
clients/customers, suppliers/vendors, co-workers, and even subordinates.

5. After you have interviewed for a position that interests you, contact your references
again to ask permission to provide them as a contact person and give them an
update on the position and the company that will be calling them. This information
will allow your references to tailor their comments. Also, be sure to verify contact
information, including telephone number, e-mail address, and best contact times.

6. When preparing your list of references for potential employers, provide some background
details as to how you know each reference and the information they can
confirm, as well as their name, telephone number, e-mail and physical addresses,
and job title.

7. Reference lists are professional documents. They should always be typed and professionally
formatted, preferably in a font and style that is consistent with your
resume. If you send this information via e-mail, send it as an attachment so that it
will look more professional.

8. After you have received and accepted a job offer, send each of your references a
thank-you card to tell them about your success and express your appreciation to
them for their help.

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