Another critical “Re” you need to master to conduct a successful job search is Research. With the internet, it has never been easier to find information about people and organizations, but that in itself can be problematic because people are often intimidated into inaction. Many job seekers are so overwhelmed by not just the quantity of information available but also by the idea of due diligence, and they do nothing. Or, they get lulled into thinking they are conducting actual research when they are, in fact, only passively scanning and posting their resumes to job boards hoping someone will come and find them.

Alas, Research is far more demanding than that.

The best place to start is to know yourself well.  Let’s call this “Looking Inward”.

Here are some starting questions:

What are your best and most useful skills?

What are your interests?

What are your needs?

What is important to you?

What work accomplishments are you most proud of?

What kind of culture do you thrive in?

Then you need to know what the job market in your particular field looks like.  Let’s call this “Looking Outward”.

Here are some starting questions:

Who is hiring?

What trends are you noticing in your field?

What kinds of jobs are being advertised?

What skills are in demand? Do you have them? How could you acquire them?

A very useful technique to keep your research focused is to create a list of 8 to 10 target organizations of interest to you.  Start building your list one at a time, and learn as much as you can about each organization as you add it to your list.  Use Linked In or your personal network to try and find people who work there and talk to those who may know the inside story, and do some internet or library research to uncover challenges the organization is facing so you can present yourself as a solution.  If, in the course of your research, you find something discouraging, remove the organization from your target list and add another one. Keep your list dynamic, not static.

The trick is understanding that by limiting yourself to a small number of target organizations, ironically, you are not closing down your options. Rather, you are focusing your efforts and energies and actually opening yourself to conversations and ideas which may unexpectedly lead to identifying new targets and, ultimately, to your next job.  By honing in on a few specific names, your networking conversations will be richer and your research efforts will be more fruitful. 

Like a sports team coach, be flexible enough to bench the players not hitting the mark, and be open enough to bring them back into the game when appropriate; in this way, you can extract maximum value from your research time.

Fredia Woolf, Principal of Woolf Consulting, is a leadership and change management consultant.  Fredia works with clients to build their capacity to manage career and organizational transitions, and to accelerate the accomplishment of positive results.  She dreams about organizations with wise leaders and engaged people having a positive impact on the world – and in the meantime, blogs about careers, leadership challenges and workplace survival strategies.

She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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Last updated on December 17th, 2009 at 09:03 am