How Long Will This Job Search Take?
In April 2010, the unemployment rate hovered at 9.9% as the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930's drags on
. Even more discouraging is the fact that 45.9% of the unemployed have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more.
The question remains: how long is YOUR job search going to take? It will probably take longer than you anticipate. Whether you were forced out your last position due to corporate restructuring or you are voluntarily moving on, the same rule applies: the further up the corporate food chain you are, the longer your job hunt will take. Why? There are far fewer jobs at the top of the food chain then there are at the bottom.
You would not set off on a road trip from Chicago to Santa Monica without a road map so do not set off on a job search without having the answers to these two questions clearly in mind:
*What achievements do you hope to accomplish next? *What are you willing to do to accomplish your goals?
What are you looking for at this stage?
*A higher salary? *Greater job security? *More time to spend with your family or pursuing your interests?
To achieve one (or more of these), are you willing to contemplate changes to your current situation and the effort needed to accomplish your goals?
If you are on the upper levels of the corporate food chain and earning $100,000 or more per year, you job search will probably take five months plus one month each for an additional delineators. Are you seeking to change any of these factors?
Your employer Your job function The industry in which you work The location (Do you want to move from Connecticut to Virginia?) Company Size (Would you rather work for a Fortune 500 or a start-up?) Your compensation package.
If you are simply moving from one corporation to another within the same industry, this may not disrupt your routine, causing nary a ripple on the serene pond that is your life. The other side of the coin is that a very large pebble will drop in your serene pond if you wish to change your location, your field, your function or your industry. Often changing industries requires the sacrifice of stepping down a few rungs on the corporate ladder and/or taking a lower salary to take a job in a more robust industry. Here are a few other scenarios:
If you want to stay with the same company but move to a more secure division (one not facing layoffs), you may have to take a job for less money just to get more job security. That trade off could take about five months.
You may love your industry but want to find a job that pays 10% more-that should take an average of seven months.
Are you looking to change the size and location of your employer? Do you want to trade-in your 90 hours weeks at the start-up in San Jose for a Big 4 job in Boston? Plan on a seven month job search.
Figure on an eight month job search if you want to change your function, your company and the size of the company by moving from your own consulting business to working for a client. Your function (consultant to employee) will change. Your company and the size of it will change as well.
Once you understand what your goals are, then you can organize your search.
Take a deep breath and a very big reality check. Be patient with yourself. After you started to walk as a toddler, did you run a 26 mile marathon the next day? Probably not because it takes training to run a marathon. Were your first ten presentations in college absolutely flawless with nary an "um," "er" or "really" in sight? Probably not because you need to develop a skill set and practice to become proficient at speaking before a group. It is the same thing with job hunting: there are a series of tools which you have to develop so you can train and improve your performance.
Now that you have firmly in mind what your goals are, you need to be able to translate your goals into words-verbal words in an elevator pitch and written words in a rsum.
Just as a knight in days of yore needed the tools of his trade (a good horse, sharp sword, and a shiny suit of armor), you need your tools all polished up and ready to go. The tools of a job hunt include a cover letter, rsum, an elevator pitch, training for another job, and networking.
We will study words as tools in the next article. Right now, if you want to train for a job with great job security and a high salary, consider becoming a Certified Public Accountant. To do that, you have to pass the CPA Exam.
by: Eric Anderson.
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