You may have heard that looking for a new job IS a fulltime job. While I do not disagree; looking for a new job requires focus and time; there are a number of things that you can do to move your search forward.
If you’re willing to spend 5-10 minutes of your time, here are some small steps you can take to forward your job search—each of these can be accomplished in less than 10 minutes:
- Add a recent achievement to your resume.
- Reach out to a former colleague on LinkedIn and connect. Be sure to send a personal note with your connection request.
- Comment or “like” a LinkedIn post—or two.
- Identify 3 organizations you want to work for; connect on LinkedIn and / or Facebook.
- Make a copy of your last 3 performance evaluations (so you can “mine” them later for additional accomplishments).
- Check out free sources of information to further your job search.
- Identify a potential mentor and reach out to them.
- Pinpoint 1 professional skill or knowledge that you could improve; find a way to close your gap.
- Write down 1 thing you want to accomplish professionally in the next 12 months; share that with a colleague or family member to hold yourself accountable.
- Spend 10 minutes searching for potential jobs online. Be sure to time yourself; it’s easy to go overboard!
- Find a career expert you like on LinkedIn; follow them.
- Look at YouTube for a short video on an aspect of job search (interview skills, elevator pitch, preparing accomplishments, etc.)
- Add 2 numbers to your current resume to provide better context to your work. Think about your budget, the size of your team, the number of transactions you prepare monthly, etc.; anything that you can quantify will work!
While doing any one thing will not likely result in a new job, tackling your job search in bitesize pieces will help you make progress! It’s like the old saying, “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
