Every time you enter a competition, a race, and so on, you have to prepare, to train yourself in order to have a hope of winning.

Why would searching for a job be any different?  It is also a competition in which many candidates have applied for a career opportunity available within the company.  In order to be the first, you must keep a steady pace, act appropriately and make sure that your application complies with the conditions imposed by the employer.

 “Nothing will work unless you do.”– Maya Angelou

So, what can you do to work?  It must be mentioned that you must have a strategy to fit in or to get the coveted position.  So, when you decide to seriously search for a career opportunity that fits your expectations, some good advice would be to organize your resources.  Integration or obtaining a job necessitates a strategy and this depends on how you utilize the resources you have at your disposal.  These in turn can be divided into principal skills you currently possess as well as concrete actions you can take:

• developing materials so as to have high-quality content (a specific resume which contains, for example, your professional objective and a description of your professional/educational accomplishments as well as a letter of intent adapted to every application),
• writing an introduction email before the employer or even contacting them by telephone a few days after you sent your application, information about your present and prospective career opportunities,
• consolidating applications, contacting human resources agents and so forth.

How can I efficiently organize my resources?

First of all establish a daily schedule, reserved for job searching.  Every day write, for example, a list containing at list three companies that you want to contact.  Personalize your application.  Even if some of the companies you contact don’t have positions available, it doesn’t mean that your application won’t attract the attention of the human resources department.  This will happen and, more than that, the chance exists that you will be called in for a hiring interview just because you had the initiative to take an interest in the company concerned.

Stick with your schedule.  Don’t forget, this approach is part of organizing your resources.  In this respect it is also advisable to choose periodical sources of information (newspapers, specialized sites, etc.) to keep you abreast of what is happening in the labour market (which companies are expanding, who is hiring, which are the most sought-after fields, etc.).

Your action plan can change and develop as your actions evolve (you contacted the companies through email, then do that and contact them by phone or, why not, perhaps you could always have a few copies of your resume with you in order to drop off a physical copy at the company that you have in your sights).

Thus, devise a strategy and put it into practice.  Respect your schedule just as you would respect a work schedule.

Don’t overwork – try to include fun things in your schedule as well, such as a walk in the fresh air, a movie night, and so on.  This helps you relax and to continue to work with full energy to reach your goals.

Find out which are the most important resources that you have at your disposal and how they can help you achieve your final goal: EMPLOYMENT.

by Mihai Silviu Botezatu, Manager People Solutions