What A Good Day Looks Like When You're Job Hunting (Part One).

Sunshine through the blind, a photo by libertygrace0 on Flickr.

What A Good Day Looks Like if You’re Job Hunting (Part One).

Like any important project, your job search needs momentum or it can never move forward. There will be days when you stare at your phone, willing it to ring—or even worse, you default to hours of spray and pray--answering tons of job ads on Monster whose titles come closest to your current or most recent one, hoping for someone to respond.

Then there are days when your actions move your job search forward. Here’s what those days might look like:

You added two valuable people to your network.  Mind you, I’m not talking about the two strangers you added to your LinkedIn account. These two were the result of live conversations you had with someone you have a working or personal relationship with, who knows your value and suggested you connect. When you spoke to these two new contacts, you also asked them for leads of others you can connect with. This expanded your network beyond options you were already aware of.

You refined your personal brand and your elevator speech.  You temporarily forgot your interest in switching careers or industries. Instead, you reiterated what you are known for right now—that thing you do that makes you so memorable. Leveraging what you're famous for, you distilled your message down to better articulate your brand to everyone who learns about your job search.

You updated your LinkedIn profile with an added skill or two.  That’s because you spent time in an online course last month learning HTML, or you took the course your company offered that helped you get Six Sigma certified. You plan on updating your business profile regularly to keep it fresh and interesting, sharing updates with your circle regularly.

You added to your business acumen.  Last week you tuned in to your company’s hour-long quarterly financial forecast, instead of reading a blurb about it online. You also sat in on the meeting of another department that generates the lion’s share of revenue for your company. You got to know someone in Finance and learned which teams impact your company’s bottom line the most. You discovered that your current department is a cost center than a revenue generator, and you just decided it makes sense to switch teams.

You improved your answers to common behavioral interview questions.  Being prepared for behavioral interviews means you have an arsenal of well-rehearsed, detailed examples of your approach to past business problems-- how you succeeded and what you and the company gained from the experience. To demonstrate maturity, you also have carefully-selected examples of mistakes you've made in past jobs and what you've learned from them. But after two recent interviews, you haven’t proceeded to final rounds or a job offer. So today you thought about how you might modify your examples. You rehearsed them with someone whose opinion you value and asked for honest feedback, no matter how painful the answer might be. Now you feel confident your new answers will have a more favorable outcome. 

Like your day so far?  Next week: Part Two.