TheLadders Blog

If you were taking a road trip from New York to Miami, you wouldn’t start the trip by heading northwest for the first few hours, would you?  Probably not. It doesn’t make sense and would take you away from your goal. You’d be much more strategic – planning your route, mapping out possible detours and even forecasting layover spots along the way…and heading due south.

A strategic job search is much like a roadmap for a trip.  Your career goal serves as the ultimate destination, and the strategies and tactics you employ comprise your roadmap and itinerary.

Have you considered your job search in light of an overall strategy?  Sometimes, job seekers expend precious time and energy on activities that don’t get them closer to their goal.  When I speak with job seekers, I almost always use the phrase ‘strategic job search’ as each day’s and week’s tasks should align with a larger plan. This strategic job search plan then informs the overall search process.

On January 10th, I shared seven job search tips in my presentation at The Ladders’ Job Central event at Grand Central Terminal in NYC (for more information, read Forbes columnist Jenna Goudreau’s article, “Seven Strategies To Reboot Your Job Search In 2013”). As you develop your strategy, consider these tips and how they can support you as you move closer to your career goal.

With a strategic job search plan in place, commit to working your plan and moving closer to your goal each and every day. In this competitive employment landscape, working strategically, smartly and steadily are essential to your success.

 Carol Camerino, CCMC, CTTCC                  Back to Work Strategist, Resume Writer &  Career Coach www.LookingForTheOnRamp.com

Job Central, presented by TheLadders, on January 10th was quite the event! Hundreds of professionals made their way to New York City’s Grand Central Terminal to hear from a lineup of guest speakers and meet with dozens of recruiters to help them with their job search.

I enjoyed my opportunity to share my 15 + years of corporate recruiting leadership experience, including my past 3 years with Hewlett-Packard.  My goal was to share real-life stories and examples to help candidates identify their brand, leverage their experiences, and improve their interview skills.  If attendees took one thing away from my presentation, I hope it was the importance of preparation. Prepare to articulate your brand.  Prepare for the interview.  Prepare for the post-interview.  Being fully prepared brings you one step closer to being hired.

After my presentation, I had an opportunity to spend a couple of hours meeting with potential candidates to provide one-on-one guidance. It is my hope that I helped at least one job seeker get closer to his or her next career goal.

If you weren’t able to make it to Job Central but want to learn how to improve your job search, check out the speaker presentations and videos at www.TheLadders.com/JobCentral.

Mitch Schwartz, Global Talent Acquisition Leader, Hewlett-Packard

As a talent manager, the job search is something that I take very seriously. I spend lots of time researching companies, verifying medium salaries based on the economy and market trends, and preparing for candidate interviews. The fact that 7% of our job seekers “do not send thank you notes” is extremely surprising and begs the question, how important is the job search to you?

In the time I’ve spent interviewing candidates, working with hiring managers, and being a job seeker myself, I’ve found that sending thank you notes is always beneficial. For me, the job-search process has multiple steps, all which require critical attention. I try to truly understand the role I am applying for, confirm that it’s the best fit for my background, prepare for my interview, and send a timely and thoughtful follow-up.

Personally, I have always sent thank you notes to everyone I’ve interviewed with. It requires time and effort out a person’s day to bring you in for an interview, why not be appreciative of that? As a recruiter, I don’t expect a long-winded, detailed description of why you want the role; it needs to re-emphasize your ability to fill the role and show gratitude to the interviewers who spent time with you. I know hiring managers who have passed on hiring candidates strictly because they failed to follow up.

Long story short, sending a thank you note goes a long way and impacts your potential of getting hired, both now, and in the future. Send them!

Download TheLadders’ Giving Thanks Infographic

Mike Deissig is the Talent and Technology Development Manager at TheLadders.  Mike is constantly trying to improve the recruiting process and evolve technology integration with recruiting. In his spare time he enjoys watching football, being with friends, and trying all of the food this world has to offer!