A Thought Process for Job Seekers

Man in black suit sitting in front of computer with arms and fists raised in celebration. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.com.

Understand yourself

  • What are your marketable attributes ? Stress them.
  • What are your areas of concern ? Prepare to defend them. Write out verbatim and practice saying out loud very precise short answers to the questions you fear the most.

Understand the marketplace

  • What jobs are out there ?
  • What jobs can you get ?

Set goals

  • What do you want ?
  • What’s the intersection between your dreams and the marketplace ?
  • Be very careful to set your target area neither too narrow nor too wide.

Define your sell

  • How are you going to present yourself ?
  • What are the top three qualities you want to project ?
  • How can you get them across clearly and simply ? Are there short stories which illustrate these qualities ? Practice telling them in less than 90 seconds.
  • Discuss your selling points with people you respect. Maybe you’ve started with the wrong ones…

Polish your sell obsessively

  • Practice out loud.
  • Write your own one-page “Tips for Interviewing” memory guide.
  • Study and refine it.

This article was originally posted to LinkedIn