Land Your Dream Job in 60 Days – Follow These 5 Steps

Are you trying to find a job in today’s tough economy? If so, then you’ve certainly heard all about the rising jobless rate and the lowering hiring rate. Perhaps you’ve even experienced for yourself the frustration of searching for months and still being without a job.

While it is a tough economy, it’s not a dead economy, and companies still need to hire good people who can stretch company dollars and prove their value quickly. Believe it or not, opportunities still exist to land the perfect job while getting a pay raise. Finding these opportunities, however, requires looking under bushes that most people don’t look under.

5 Steps

So how can you find that perfect job in 60 days? These 5 steps will get you where you want to be, assuming you have the qualifications and persona that make you worth hiring. These steps require some hard work and diligence-bushes that many people aren’t willing to look under.

Step 1

Understand that the internet is a tool.

The broad reach of the internet has provided us amazing access to information, including information about available jobs. The downside of the internet is that for many, it has become the accepted way to search for a job. Most people will scour the online job boards and advertising, check company web sites for job openings, post a resume all over the place, and wait for the golden call to come. In most cases, that call never comes. Used in this way, the internet can be one of the least effective tools you have for a job search. It is imperative to understand that the internet is a tool, not the tool. Use it, but don’t live only by it.

Step 2

Know who you are, and know what your target is.

What makes you marketable? What skills and experience do you have to offer a future employer? What makes you stand out from hundreds of other applicants? If you can’t identify your strengths, then a future employer won’t be able to either. Once you’ve identified what you have to offer, match your qualifications with a select number of target companies. Don’t waste your time with a broadcast approach to job hunting. Target quality companies, research them, decide how you can benefit them, and then go after them. Make sure these companies fit into your long-term career plan. Sometimes you’re better off to not take a job just to have a job. Be patient and target quality companies.

Step 3

Develop a strong networking team.

A job search can be very lonely, so surround yourself with others who can be a support and help you find the hidden job market you’re seeking to get into. This networking team must include a coach or a mentor, someone who can guide you, lift you, and get you back on course after a tough day or week. This coach could be a spouse, but be careful, sometimes a spouse can be too close to the action. Develop a team to network with, and find ways to advertise yourself to others in a conversational way. Remember, everybody knows somebody, so everybody can be of help to you. This networking team will be one of your most important tools. When used properly, this will be a key factor in finding the right job in 60 days. Use it wisely.

Step 4

Have strong support documents.

These documents include your resume, cover letters, thank you letters, and other written communication tools. These documents will be mini interviews for you every time they are used, so be very professional. Keep them simple, clean, and to the point. Use wording that denotes action and strength, and be certain they are tailored to the company you are applying to. Remember, you’re targeting certain companies and you have done your research, so you know what each company is looking for. These will provide your “paper trail”, make sure they are representative of your quality.

Step 5

Stay positive.

Your job search is a process, not a one-day event. As with all processes, there will be good days and bad days, it’s important for you to stay positive through each day. Believe in yourself and what you have to offer. If you become negative, that negative attitude will show when you work with your network and when you work with prospective employers. People don’t like negativity, and they don’t like to hire negativity. Again, surround yourself with others who can lift you, and who you can lift. Sometimes the best way to shed the negative you feel is to help others as they struggle. Stay positive, and this process will end with positives.

Follow these 5 steps and you’ll find the right job for you, a job that will be a stepping stone along your career path. As a recruiter, I always felt that the best candidates were the ones that I had to work to find, the same is true for the job seeker. Your best job probably won’t be with companies that come knocking at your door. Decide what you want, and go after it. Your dream job awaits.