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Think of your job search as a journey, one of the most important you’ll ever make, along the lines of a thrilling ocean voyage.

Have you ever heard of a ship’s captain who didn’t consult his maps before and during his journey? Of course not. Captains like that don’t last long -- it’s too easy to get off course just a little bit each day, until the ship is hopelessly lost at sea.

So don’t expect a successful outcome to your job search if you don’t consult your “map” at least once a week, and make course corrections.

To do this and stay on course, you should hold a 30-minute meeting with yourself weekly. Do the following:

• Repeat out loud and reaffirm your Job Search Objective: What’s the exact title of the job you seek? The salary? What 3 skills do you want to use? What’s your target company or working environment? Regular repetition will burn your goal into your brain.
• What’s working? Do more!
• What’s not working? Make change or drop it.

I’m reminded of a picture I saw, of a forlorn and pathetic-looking man on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. He had had been standing on a street corner for nearly three months holding a sign that said: "I NEED A JOB ... 36 YRS EXPER; INSUR/MNGMNT.”

Apparently, this man had never thought long and hard enough about his job search to STOP doing something that clearly was NOT working. He remained out in the wind and weather begging for work, hoping something would fall into his lap. For all I know, he’s still there ….

Don’t do that.

Action Step: Have a 30-minute meeting with yourself every week and analyze your job search activities. What’s working? Do more of that. What’s not working? Change your approach, or drop it altogether. Then plan your efforts for the next 7, 30, 60 and 90 days.

Compliments of David Perry and Kevin Donlin

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David Segall, credit professional from Warwick, NY, uncovered a lead one New Year’s Eve that turned into a new job.

After being laid off by his firm, he got out a listing of decision makers in his industry, picked up the phone and started dialing.

“I knew a great way to network would be to simply call other credit professionals. I did that by using the member roster list of an industry group I belonged to,” says Segall.

“The script I followed on the phone went like this: ‘Hi, my name is Dave Segall and I got your name from XX. I was working at Y Company until recently as an Assistant Credit Manager. I’m calling to see if you had any opportunities at your firm.’”

Segall say: “If I got voicemail instead of a live person, I would add: ‘I’d like to speak with you; my cell phone number is 212-XXX-XXXX.’ That way, I could get callbacks while calling out on my regular phone.”

Be sure to call managers who can either hire you directly or influence a hiring decision. Segall targeted titles just above his level when calling, such as Credit Director or Credit Manager.

What where Segall’s results?

“I got a job offer right over the phone! In total, I talked to about 50 people live after making nearly 100 calls in one day.”

Action Step: You can produce a week’s worth of results in your job search in only a few hours spent calling decision makers and asking for interviews. There are directories of names and phone numbers for almost every industry imaginable. Sure there will be rejection. You may even get the phone slammed in your ear. But that just means you’ll have less competition.

And what if you can’t find an association for your industry, even after checking with your local reference librarian?

Try looking through www.superpages.com by industry and/or location as a way to contact and network with decision makers. You’ll also find names and phone numbers of valuable network contacts at www.hoovers.com, for a fee. (Be sure to ask your local library if they subscribe to Hoovers. Some do, and you can use the information at no cost.)

Compliments of David Perry and Kevin Donlin

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