Happy New Year! It’s 2011 and some of you are starting the new year off with a new job, while others are continuing to job search. I’m one of those people who don’t believe in making new year’s resolutions, because we should always set goals for ourselves, no matter what day of the year it is.
Now that it’s a new year, it’s time to reflect on what job searching strategies worked and didn’t work for you in 2010. Set job searching goals and focus on new strategies and tactics to position yourself to get hired. It’s important to realize what strategies and tactics you used in 2010 that didn’t work for you and make some changes.
“Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business.” – Mark Sanborn
Here are 5 tips to help prepare you for a 2011 job search:
- Start your job search by knowing which companies, industries and types of jobs you will be targeting.
- Research your targeted companies and industries by using resources such as Google and Vault.com. Companies that don’t match your qualifications and goals are not worth pursuing. The research you do on the front end will benefit your job search in the long run.
- Utilize social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook to connect with people who can help you contact key people in your target set of companies.
- Prepare your marketing pitch, also knows as an elevator speech so you can effectively present yourself to organizations and connections. Think about creating different versions of your pitch to meet the needs of each company you are targeting.
- Search job openings for your targeted companies using job search engines such as Indeed and Simply Hired.
Don’t make the same job search mistakes in 2011 that you made in 2010. Make a list of targeted companies, stay focused and don’t waste your time applying for jobs that don’t match your career goals and qualifications.
Recommended Resources: Informing Job Seekers, Job Searching Strategies, 1 on 1 career help, See Who’s Hiring, Job Search in the U.S.,
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Job Searching Strategies 
What are some of your 2010 job search mistakes you know you won’t make going into 2011?
I definitely think positioning yourself is going to be a big factor this year. Just like networking took off, now that’s not even enough sometimes. Positioning yourself to get or be hired is not the same as networking.