Knowledge is Power – Five things you need to know to POWER UP your job search

By Coach Celena Perry – October 2018

Know yourself (self-assessment, career decisions and direction)
Know your target market (marketing and research)
Know how you are known (branding)
Know who you know (networking)
Know how to conduct a job search (plan your work and work your plan)

1. Know yourself…

Whether you are transitioning from college to first job, or continuing your career after an interruption, or planning a career change – your first stop on the journey to job search speed and career success and satisfaction is a quiet place called self-assessment. Why? Because you are a “VIP” and assessments can help you understand that and empower you with the knowledge and confidence to convince others of your value.

“V” stands for Values…

When your values line up with how you live and work, you tend to feel more satisfied and confident. Feelings of dissatisfaction, confusion and discouragement at work, can lead to stress, burnout, less productivity and motivation. If the latter is the case, your work place values may not be aligned with your organization, industry, profession or job. Your values help you make important day-to-day choices and decisions about everything. The best career choices are the ones that match your values with your career goals. Using this knowledge you will be able to derive more career success and job satisfaction. That’s powerful! Self-administered work values assessments abound on the World Wide Web, and do not require a qualified, certified practitioner to help you interpret the results; nonetheless, I recommend that you do consult with a career coach, consultant or counselor. In my work I’ve used ValuesSmart and Career Anchors values assessments with great favor and success. Clarifying and prioritizing your top work values can give direction to your work life and power to your career decision-making process. So, Power UP and SHINE BRIGHTER!

“I” stands for Interests…

If you are looking for a way to help you express your authentic self, then an interest inventory is one of the vehicles to help get you there. Several instruments exist; however, two of the more popular ones are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) and the Holland RIASEC Codes. Both will help you sort through the possibilities and determine if you are more interested in the Realistic (Doers), Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic (Creators), Social (Helpers), Enterprising (Persuaders), and Conventional (Organizers). Typically, your interests will be strongest in one area more so than the others, and you’ll have secondary and tertiary interests. The top two or three are used to help confirm and power up your choices for career, retirement and extra-curricular pursuits. The SDS–Self-directed Search inventory is another widely used career interest inventory. I’ve used them all, and I believe either one of them can help Power UP your career and life.

“P” stands for Personality…

Assessments, inventories and indicators that help you identify your personality, temperament, preferences, inclinations, tendencies and strengths, among other things—are just another piece of the career decision-making pie. I don’t use the word test because it implies right or wrong answers. When it comes to your personality, there is no right or wrong, better or worse—just differences and similarities. These psychometric tools are designed to give you insight, awareness and understanding about yourself and others and are not to be used exclusively for career choices or hiring decisions. Although there are numerous tools and systems, the most widely used one for career planning by high schools, colleges and universities, and some companies offering outplacement services is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, also known as the MBTI. DISC is another popular and widely used assessment tool.

Because networking is so powerful when it comes to job search, you should at the very least gain some insight into whether you are more Extroverted or Introverted. Both the MBTI and DISC can help you determine your temperament and should be administered by someone qualified and certified to help you interpret and validate the results. Then you can gain some understanding about the implications your preference has on the way you network. Extroverts and Introverts can certainly be themselves, but they can also learn some valuable insights from their opposite preference. Knowing, understanding, and managing your personality can help increase your EQ – Emotional Intelligence Quotient, and that’s powerful.

Additional assessments include: Personal SWOT analysis, core and transferable skills and competencies, motivators, satisfiers and dissatisfiers, strengths and weaknesses, goals, and accomplishments. Knowing how to document your accomplishments on a resume and how to discuss them in an interview can make a powerful difference in your being selected for an interview and a job offer. So, Power UP and shine bright like the star that you are.

By the way, STAR is a great method for capturing your accomplishments: S = Situation, T = Task, A = Actions, R = Results. The entire STAR story will help you deliver powerful responses, especially to behavioral interview questions. You can rev up your resume using the Action Result portion of the STAR for your bulleted statements. Begin your statements with powerful action verbs like implemented, initiated, designed, delivered, saved, reduced, improved, decreased, increased, led, managed, etc. Show your brilliance by quantifying with #s, %s and $ whenever possible. Now is not the time to be bashful. If you did it, it’s not bragging; it’s an accomplishment! Apply the So What? Test to each bulleted sentence to ensure you are including the result, benefit, purpose and outcome of your actions.

Soul-searching and self-awareness can help you decide what’s next and set an objective for your job search that serves as your North Star. Power and direction come from knowing yourself, what you have done, can do, desire to do, and confidently conveying that in your written and verbal communications. Discover your brilliance through assessment, career exploration and sound career decision-making. It can put pride in your stride and pep in your step. Now, Power UP and let your life shine!

2. Know your target market…

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat replied, “If you don’t know, any road will get you there.” I guess it will… eventually. However, it’s been proven that some time spent planning your work and working your personal targeted marketing plan can bring speed, focus and direction to your job search, and that’s powerful.

Apply the 4-P’s of marketing to market yourself. P#1 is for Product and that’s you, of course, and your knowledge, skills and abilities, features, advantages and benefits. P#2 is for Place, the target companies you desire to work, and the companies that would be interested in you coming to work for them. P#3 stands for Promote and that would be your communication strategy for promoting yourself, like using LinkedIn, other social media, resume, letters, emails, references, networking and interviewing. The 4th and final P stands for Price and includes knowing your value, salary and total compensation needs, and having a realistic understanding of what the market can bear based on the companies and industries you are targeting. Do your salary research so that you don’t price yourself out of consideration by pricing yourself too high or too low.

Your plan should include your preferences for: geographic area, type of organizational culture, and size of companies or organizations, and salary and benefits. It should also include a list of your targeted positions, functional areas, and targeted industries and companies, as well as the core competencies and value you would bring. Then research the industry and organizations using print, online and people as resources. Whether the companies have current openings or not, your goal is to proactively understand their needs, issues, trends and opportunities and determine if that industry and/or organization stays on your list. If it does, your next step is to connect with your network to see if someone you know works there, or if they know someone who knows someone who does; in particular, the hiring managers and other key decision makers. Try to get introductions and referrals and consider informational interviews. Type up your plan like you would your resume, but unlike your resume, your personal targeted marketing plan is not for distribution. It’s for you and a few select others on your personal board of advisors.

Using your plan as a guide, each week set goals for research and outreach, and evaluate and refine your lists and plan as you go. Now, instead of asking the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” you and Alice now know to ask him if he knows anyone at any of your targeted companies, and if so, please introduce you. There is power in knowing which way you want to go and the specific road to take you there. So, Power UP and hit the road with confidence and your personal targeted marketing plan!

3. Know how you are known…

What are you known for? What makes you unique? How do you differentiate yourself from others with similar backgrounds targeting the same positions as you? What are your special talents and top attributes? Can you recall times when you performed at your very best? Branding is the process of differentiating yourself and standing out from the crowd by presenting your unique value. How do you stand out from the rest?

Personal branding is a popular new trend that will help you stand out and communicate your brand. Whether you realize it or not, you already have a brand. Take time to discover it, refine it and control it by first identifying your differentiators and writing your branding statement. Then brand yourself in your emails, resume, cover letters, LinkedIn profile, other social media, and even the way you dress. Yes, just like with product branding, packaging is important, and so are the font type and size you use for your written communications.

When establishing your brand, remember the three Cs: Clarity (be clear about what you do and do not represent), Consistency (present yourself in the same way each time you communicate your brand), and Constancy (means it is visibly dependable). Once you define your brand, commit to it. This is true whether creating a personal or business brand. Think about Disney, McDonald’s and Nike. Key to your professional career branding success are rapport building (discover common ground and connect with people on an emotional level), and authenticity (be honest about your values and back up words with actions). No one is you and that is your power. So, Power UP! And, let your brand shine.

4. Know who you know…

It is imperative to your job search speed and career success and satisfaction that you take note of whom you know and plan to network with them. This is the most powerful thing you can do. Networking has been, continues to be, and perhaps will always be the number one way most job seekers land the jobs they want in the timing they want. Networking with people you know will provide you with leads, referrals, introductions, information, interviews, job offers and more. Warning: a job search can be a time-consuming emotional roller coaster. Do not go it alone. Learn how to make your NET work for you.

Researchers report that 60 to 80% of job seekers attribute their landings to getting the word out to their network. You can do this via in-person meetings, by email, the telephone, using social media, and attending networking events. We all network naturally, so just be strategic about your networking and include your career as a topic in some of your normal networking conversations with family, friends, colleagues, associates and contacts. Also, your job search is a job. Having a strong work ethic for Your job search is powerful. Establish your working hours and allocate about 60% of that time to networking. For instance, if you only have 20 hours per week to devote to your job search, 60% of that equals 12 hours. Networking know-how is like jet fuel for your job search; it can speed up your search and landing time. It’s powerful. So, Power UP!

5. Know how to conduct a job search…

Finally, you need to know how to bring order and structure to this process, and learn the additional skills necessary for conducting a highly effective job search, including: writing a winning resume and LinkedIn profile, using job boards efficiently, confidently interviewing and negotiating offers, choosing and working with recruiters and agencies, properly assimilating into your new position, closing out your job search, and professionally managing your career now, henceforth and forevermore.

There are lots of books, websites, companies and independent coaches, consultants and counselors in the marketplace offering career systems, programs, services and advice. Some are better than others; something is probably better than nothing. If your career has been interrupted due to no fault of your own, for instance, restructuring, a lay-off or reduction-in-force, and your company offers you redeployment, active-placement, outplacement or career transition services—by all means accept the help you are being offered. If you are transitioning from college to your first job, I encourage you to make use of your school’s career services center. If you are thinking of a career change for any reason at all, whether out of work or still working—you will also want to take advantage of any services offered by your employer or get help from an independent career professional.

In all of the above situations, I recommend a qualified, certified, experienced career professional: coach, consultant, counselor, recruiter and HR—that can provide you with a roadmap, serve as your guide and strategic partner, and hold you accountable. Good support, training, resources and tools are critical to your job search speed and career success and satisfaction. With technology and social media playing such a major role in the job search, recruitment and selection process today, your dedicated, personal career professional can empower you with knowledge that removes the mystery and helps you optimize your use of them.

Knowledge is truly powerful, and I just gave you FIVE Ways to Power Up your Job Search. Let me know if we can help you, your team, group, organization or company with your HR and career services needs.

Illuminating Insights HR and Career Services, its associates and partners, provides coaching, consulting, facilitating and training support to any size organization, group, team or individual – executive, professional and non-exempt employees. We offer in-person and virtual support. We’re here to help you SHINE BRIGHTER in life and career.

Coach Celena is founder and principal | http://www.Linkedin.com/in/Celenabperry