Job Winners

Many people who find themselves laid off or otherwise out of work but in need of employment feel stuck and fearful when it comes to the job search. For some unemployed, this could be because they were at a long term job and haven’t had to search for a new one in years, perhaps decades. For others, the prospects of looking for a new job, handing in resumes and facing potential employers in an interview is overwhelming.

John Palmer, 32, told us that he was quite despondent upon losing his 9 year job with an investment firm. “I didn’t know what to do and ended up doing nothing for a long time,” he says. “It wasn’t until I got into a system and treated job hunting as a full time job that I was successful in receiving an offer from an employer where I’m now very happy.”

John’s experience is not unlike that of many newly unemployed. Until you treat job hunting as a full time in of itself, you’re unlikely to get any serious employment prospects. If you’d like to be working 8 hours a day, then what do you have to lose by spending 8 hours each and every day in your job search?

Perhaps before you do anything is to commit to yourself that you’re going to spend the same amount of time looking for a job as you would be working at one. After that, you need to get organized.

One of the best things you can do is start a record where you can note every job you’ve applied for. Note the date you applied, who you spoke with if anyone, and contact information including address and phone number. A spread sheet using Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc will be handy for this purpose. If you’re short of cash and don’t have a spreadsheet utiliy, you can download the free suite of office tools from www.openoffice.org.

The next thing you might want to do is research every possible source of job postings that you can find. In your area, there may be a Government Job Bank office that you can visit. As well, your local newspaper likely has job and carreer postings in their classifieds. Often times, these classifieds are posted online every day too. Think about using sites like Kijijji.com. There are many job listings for specific towns and cities on this website.

In your list, make sure to also include all the people you know. Write down their names and contact information. You never know when someone might discover a job that fits you perfectly – and if they didn’t know you were looking, wouldn’t be able to tell you!

Now, you also need to make sure you have your resume together. This might be a good time to plan to visit the local Government Job Bank or Unemployment Office; often they will have counselors that can help you in putting your resume together.

Now that you’ve got your organization started, set some reasonable daily goals such as:

• Submit 4 resumes per day in response to job postings you find.
• Visit Government Job Bank Office Daily to look for new job postings. You can also meet with others in the same situation and discuss methods they are using in their job search.
• Knock on 4 doors per day. Often, companies that are looking to hire are not advertising in newspapers or online but instead, go through the resumes they have on file. Just because a firm hasn’t advertised doesn’t mean they may not be hiring now or in the near future. The more proactive you are, the greater your chance of success!
• Call up a couple of people on the contact list you made and have a discussion, perhaps an invitation for coffee and let them know you are looking for a job. It’s a small world and sometimes it is knowing others that can help you get in the door to an interview.

Another thing you should consider: Are you willing to relocate? If so, be sure to call contacts in other cities, States and Provinces too!

Stay organized and keep your commitments even when it gets discouraging – you’ll be that much further ahead of those competing against you to find employment in your field. You’ll be the job winner!