Job Search Essentials - Continued

Enlist the help of a Recruiter: These profressionals help you do some of your job search work while you sleep. Powerful recruiters have a network that span the nation and typically have established relationships with companies that are always hiring. You can find the best recruiters by networking. Ask your colleagues or previous co workers if they used anyone in their search in the past. Believe me everyone has someone they’ve worked with in the past. Using word of mouth and past experience with recruiters is much more powerful than an online search. With online searches or recruiter directories you really not sure what you are getting. You sometimes will find recruiters that I call “shotgun” recruiters. They blast out tons of jobs but really have no niche or focus. These professionals will jump on any job or candidates that move.

The key is to find those that have actually worked in the field or have been recruiting your field to really help sell your experience and skills to potential employers. A quick sense check to use, is to ask recruiters some of the companies they’ve done work, ask for job descriptions of positions they are carrying, and ask how many positions they are carrying in your field right now. Your aim should be to cultivate relationship with as many responsive and powerful recruiters, it will only help your search results. Again, always have your resume ready in cases you do have to shoot your resume off to these individuals.

Check Your Worth: If you haven’t been in job search mode for a while, it’s always important to know your worth. You must understand how competitive your base pay, bonus, and benefits are relative to the current market. A few tips are to use free (generic search) sites below can help you evaluate your total compensation package. It’s imperative you know what you are worth to enable an effective salary discussion. Are you overpaid or underpaid? Are you entering a new industry that has different compensation design (more bonus vs. base pay or soley base pay). All these elements will surely be points of discussion once you get into the offer or negotiation stage. It’s also important to set the expectations of recruiters and employers on what you expected salary range is as well. Do this to simply avoid surprises or disappointments when you do get a offer that is not competitive. Note, this does not mean to begin talking about salary in first few interviews. If they ask, you share. Only begin to negotiate when you have offer in hand. I’ll talk more about salary negotation later posts.