2. Getting Focused
We have seen the commercials over the years from printed ads to radio, television, and now online. They are everywhere. So right out of the gate we feel like starting with an online job search is the smartest way to go. We can reach a wide audience and get a view into many companies in the most time-efficient, thorough way.
So, we jot down four or five online resources we plan to start with and formally begin the job search process. We have not abandoned the idea of doing something on our own just yet. It is exciting to think about being our own boss, running our own business, and being the one truly responsible for our fate. However, much like the new world we are entering into with our job search, entrepreneurialism would be a new world as well. So we pull our heads out of the clouds and get back to it, knowing we will be more effective focusing on one new world at a time in the interest of completing some of the action items as planned.
Our plan has been intentional from the start, committing to in-depth research of a company before we apply. That includes digging into executive leadership, founders, customer and employee testimonials, generally anything and everything we can find to help us determine if a company and team is right for us. After all, we have had a long, successful career, and any company out there would be lucky to have us. It is okay to be selective right now while time is on our side for a bit. So, our goal for these early weeks will be to do our homework, research the industry and labor market, and best assess the type and volume of opportunities out there to ensure we only apply to the best of the best opportunities we find.
3. Avoiding Overwhelm
What a week it has been since we put the finishing touches on our resume and began uploading it to a host of online job sites. As we committed to doing, we have been very selective, knowing that we only want to be considered by those we would consider ourselves. Thankfully, there is no shortage of opportunity out there these days it seems, and we are feeling tremendous about our prospects to land in a great spot and move our career along.
Companies have posted not only their open jobs but seem to be putting the full spectrum of who they are, what they do, what their culture is like, and so on to give prospects like us everything we could possibly need to take that next step. It has become as challenging to use restraint in pulling the trigger on everything, as it is to temper the enthusiasm and optimism we’re feeling with so much opportunity out there.
We do our due diligence on each company we look at. We are paying special attention to the makeup of the leaders, from executives to hiring managers, many of whom have names and bios in the ‘company’ or ‘about us’ section. That transparency seems really helpful for the interested, curious outsider to get a sense of what a company may value. We locate employee feedback, also available online, has been important to understand just how closely a company’s current and former employees are aligned to the words and pictures on the company site. Overall, it’s a mixed bag with some scoring poorly across both current and formers, while other companies seem to be doing it right, getting high marks from those who’ve left and those there today. It’s the latter category that has us most interested of course, and only where we have pressed the button to apply thus far. Sure, it is limiting the opportunity to get that call, but with so many available jobs out there that look like a clear fit for us, we can afford to be a bit choosy at this point. It’s early in the process.
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