An Assessment To Build On
A quality job search, that is a search that produces results in terms of finding an appropriate position as quickly as possible, requires attention to each phase of the search: assessment, preparation, follow-up, and interviewing.
In the assessment phase you must select appropriate job targets for yourself. You have identified targets when you have specified:
- industries or organizations of a certain size;
- the position you would like in each target;
- and the geographic region.
For example, a target could be finding a position as a business manager in the book publishing industry in Chicago. It contains all three elements: industry (or organization size), position and geographic area.
A second target for this same person could be a business manager position in the magazine publishing industry in Chicago. Is this enough for a person to have a successful search within a reasonable time frame? The key question, based on our research is this:
Are you going after 200 positions?
Let's say, for example, that your first target aims at a small industry (ten organizations) having only a few positions that would be appropriate for you. Chances are, those positions are filled right now. In fact, chances are there may be no opening for a year or two. The numbers are working against you.
The Five O'Clock Club rule is you that must target at least 200 positions which are appropriate for you if your search is a good one likely to bear fruit in a reasonable time period.
For a senior executive, targeting 200 positions may mean targeting 200 different companies if each company has only one position that is appropriate for you.
However, if a company has ten positions that are appropriate for you, then you have to target only twenty similar companies to come up with a list that totals 200 appropriate positions.
Have you targeted 200 appropriate positions? If not, we can show you how.