So you're thinking about or are ready to start your job search and you ask yourself what is the first step? Often times, the first thing people think they need to do is update their resume ( or Linkedin Profile) and send it out to their industry contacts or start mass applying to jobs they find on Monster, CareerBuilder or other job boards; this is NOT the best way to do it. Why? Because you are mass applying to many jobs that may not be a fit and wasting valuable time.
Before you start sending out your resume you need to figure out what employers want and one of the best ways to get into their mind is by doing an analysis of job descriptions posted on indeed.com or company websites. This tip has several steps:
1. Find your job title
a. Write out what you think are the skills or tools you use most in your field or job. I would try to narrow it down to your top two skills and tools used. After you compile your short list go to indeed.com and type in those skills or tool names. The results should give you a sense of the title most often used; write down the top three titles.
b. If you are sure about your job title I would still go to indeed.com but instead of searching for the skills type the short version of your title. For instance, if you are an "Oracle Database Administrator" I would type "Database Administrator" and look for variations of that title.
2. Search job postings for opportunities
a. Once you have the most used job titles then do a search for opportunities. You should find a ton of jobs listed. Do a quick read of the job descriptions and select the top five that match your skills, abilities and experience level.
3. Conduct a job analysis
a. Copy and paste the text from your top five job descriptions into Microsoft Word. Read each job description carefully and highlight job relevant skills and tools most often mentioned.
b. After you have done a manual analysis go to wordle.net/create and paste the text from your top five job descriptions and click go. This will create a beautiful word cloud that can be help you zone in on words you selected with your manual analysis or help you see words you overlooked. I recommend limiting the number of words to 25; to do this just click on "layout" and then click on "maximum words" and set it to 25.
Once you complete this exercise you have started the process to strategically position your job search. Next week I will continue this planning theme and present a business idea that can be readily applied to the job search.
