From Applications to Offers: A Basic Guide to Effective Job Search Focus

Looking for a job can be a big project. The more urgency you experience, the more focused time you need to spend.

What does it mean to spend focused time?

Focused time is spent working on the things that are going to get results. This means that you need to know what, specifically, you should be working on.

The book The No-Stress Job Search: Essential Strategies for Newcomers to the US and Canada (to be published in the summer of 2024) provides readers with a series of process maps to help them know what to work on next. Here’s an idea (in text form) of how those maps can help you.

To get a job, you need to meet employers who are hiring.

1.        Are you meeting enough suitable employers? If yes, that’s fantastic. Keep going. If not, you need to increase your outreach activity. That means applying on advertised jobs, but mostly it means networking. Expanding your network is by far, the best way to find a suitable employment opportunity.

2.        Are you getting job interviews? If yes, you’re doing great. Get as many as you can. If not, you might need a better résumé (CV), and probably also better cover letters.

3.        For the interviews you attend, are you getting job offers? If yes, consider improving your negotiation skills, so you can get the best offer possible. If you are not getting job offers, you need to improve your interview skills.

Look at the feedback you are getting to help you decide on the next best place to focus your attention.

Remember, you don’t need to learn everything about job hunting techniques. You just need to learn enough for your situation. Learn something new. Apply it. Repeat. When it starts working, move on to the next area of focus.

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If you have questions about your job search, contact us, or leave a comment.