What To Do With Your Free Time While Job Searching

When you are unemployed and looking for a new job, you often have a great deal of unstructured free time. It's important to structure that free time and take on variety of tasks to maximize your search effectiveness (i.e., being involved in networking, letter of inquiry campaigns, job fairs, etc.). There are also ways to use your time to advance your skills, give back, reflect and get back into the job market a new and more improved person. Here are some ideas about utilizing this time.

-Volunteer Your Professional Skills

Think about keeping your professional skills fresh and offering them to someone or an organization in need. It's important to keep using your skills and to contribute to your community. It is also a way to address a work gap on your resume. Check out organizations like the Taproot Foundation - http://www.taprootfoundation.org/ where you can work as a part of team to assist a non-profit - it is also great opportunity for networking.

-Take a Class

Advance your skills by taking a class or take a class in something you have been interested in, but never had the time to. It's a way to learn something new, meet new people and account for your time away from the world of work with a productive endeavor. It's important during your time out of work that you grow and offer something new to an employer and also to yourself.

-Do Some Self-Reflection

Take some time to learn more deeply about yourself. Also, the job search process can be lonely and difficult and raise all kinds of negative feelings about yourself, the world and others. Often when we are working, we have excuses about why we don't do this type of reflection due to time restrictions, but it is vital to know yourself and take care of yourself to get the most of your life. Think about therapy or counseling. If due to a limited budget you cannot afford a clinician in private practice, you can check out clinics which offer low fee services such as Fordham University Psychological Services Institute - http://www.fordham.edu/academics/colleges__graduate_s/graduate__profession/education/centers_and_institut/psychological_servic/

Usually, clinics associated with schools or training institutes are a good place to look for affordable services.

-Travel

Think about going somewhere you wanted to, but either didn't have enough vacation time for or couldn't schedule at the right time. You can also do a volunteer vacation where you give back while in another city, country, continent. This kind of opportunity also is often a great time for reflection, giving back and explains time gaps on your resume in a very interesting way.

While you are unemployed, there are often a lot of negative feelings about the new found time on your hands. But take some time to think about what YOU would like to do with this time and take advantage of this time to grow yourself, assist others and make the world a better place.

Monitoring Your Online Presence for Maximum Success

While the focus of job search is often a reviewed resume and cover letter. You should also be reviewing your online life regularly to ensure that you encounter no bumps along the job search road. Whether you review it or not, you can guarantee that the employers that you send your application materials to will be.

The first place to start is to GOOGLE YOURSELF. You should google the name on your resume as well as other common versions of your name (e.g., if you have a maiden name, you should also check it out). Search not only the websites on google, but also "images," "video," etc. You should see what is out there about you or someone who has the same name as you.

Here are the steps you can take if there is negative material about you on the web:

- Make sure that if you have a "twin" on the internet with the same first and last name, make sure that you are adding your middle initial, full name and that you put that name on everything including your Facebook, LinkedIn to separate you from your bad twin

- If you created the negative material, get rid of it immediately. It may take time for newly edited sites to come up on a search so change it or remove it as soon as possible.

-To push down negative material in a search, create new positive materials about yourself on the web including a LinkedIn.com site which typically ranks high on a google search, a new blog, website--newer material about yourself will outrank the older stuff.

Secondly, you should clean up your social networking sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace. The best rule of thumb is that you should be able to show your site on an interview to an employer. If you can't, it needs to be cleaned up.

Areas for cleaning include:

-Unprofessional pictures including videos and pictures where you are tagged (i.e., you need to contact your friend to remove the tag or the picture)

-Groups that indicate personal or political affiliations (opens you up to potential discrimination before you even get an interview)

-Spelling, grammatical errors, type o's (as they can indicate sloppiness, writing skill, etc.)

-Be aware of posting too much (i.e., several times a day or every single day on LinkedIn) on groups or walls. It can look to an employer that you have nothing better to do and are not occupying yourself with more productive tasks such as volunteering, employment, school.

-Be conscious of your privacy settings--make an informed decision about who you let see what

-Inform your friends that you are in the midst of a job search so that think twice about what they include you in. If they are not conscious about it and do inappropriate things that involve you, feel free to ask them to not to continue and if they still continue, take stronger action (e.g., removing them as a friend).

It's very important to take charge of your online presence. Your online presence should represent as consistently as possible that image/person that you are saying you are in your cover letters, networking and interviews. If there is inconsistency in this image, a new employer, who does not know you, will most likely believe the negative image that they see on the internet before the positive one you purport to be.

Pitching Yourself

Having a solid pitch is a key to networking, attending fairs, and interviews. Developing the pitch can be difficult, but delivering it is often worse. Telling a stranger all the great and fascinating aspects of your professional self is not the easiest experience for many people.

Here are some tips:

-When you are pitching yourself, you are aiming to create a dialogue and NOT a monologue. Don't talk AT a recruiter or potential networking contact, talk with him or her. You should be listening to them as well as talking.

-In certain situations, the typical pitch is not appropriate. For example, if you meet a potential networking contact at a family function, you shouldn't deliver your pitch. You should know your pitch well enough to work some of the information into the conversation in a natural way.

-Know the difference between when to do a "hard sell" vs. "soft sell" of yourself. When you are in an interview and the interviewer says, "Tell me about yourself," this is time for the hard sell (i.e., your professional pitch with all the bells and whistles). When you are at a networking event, the focus should be on building a relationship and the pitch should be at a lower volume--time for the soft sell. You should be talking about yourself as appropriate to the conversation.

-Always follow-up on a pitch. When you have met someone new, always follow-up with an email or reach out to them on LinkedIn.com

It's critical to understand how to deliver the pitch in different contexts. Always be aware of what is expected in the situation and that will help you adjust your pitch appropriately.

Letter of Inquiry Campaigns

One successful method of job search is the letter of inquiry campaign about 1 in 5 job seekers find their position this way according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . A letter of inquiry campaign is a letter writing and calling campaign targeting companies that employ individuals in your field, but may not be advertising positions at the time. For the shy and faint of heart, it can feel very difficult to try this. It's really important, though, to incorporate this into a complete job search plan. It's also critical during your job search to challenge yourself, take risks and learn new skills.

So, where do you find the companies to target? Obviously, you should target companies that draw you to their mission, product, culture, etc. You should also search out other organizations through databases such as Hoover's Online. You can usually access a version with more information through either your college/university library or the public library. You should use this version over the free version if you have access to it. A database like this can be useful because it gives an overview of the company; the industries the organization is involved with; key people in the company and who in the company is on LinkedIn.com; and competitors. You can also obtain addresses and phone numbers of key people at the organization. To narrow down the search, you can also search the databases by industry.

Once you have your list of companies, you now need to determine who to specifically contact at the company. You want to contact the individual at the organization who would influential in the hiring process (e.g., Human Resources Director or Manager of a particular department). You should have the name of that person, their address at the company and hopefully also their phone number. You should also utilize LinkedIn's (by clicking on "Companies" on the top right and using "Company Search") to ascertain who you are connected to at the company, who may be able to provide greater information to inform your campaign (i.e., give you inside information about the culture, who should direct your letter of inquiry to).

Some experts suggest that you do not send a resume along with the letter of inquiry. However, I feel it is often a good thing to send a competency-based resume with the letter. Check out books like Competency-Based Resumes: How to Bring your Resume to the Top of the Pile by Robin Kessler and Linda Strasberg.

Now that you have done your research on your companies and the key people, you will now develop your letter of inquiry. A good letter of inquiry will be individualized for each company in style and the information presented. It should be as professional as a cover letter, but it should be: 1) easy to read in format; 2) grab the reader quickly; and 3) demonstrate your skills, experience and fit with the company in a way that makes them want more. The more that you know about a company, the greater argument that you can make. You should always close the letter letting the individual know that you will be in contact with them in a certain period of time. Remember to keep track of every letter sent and of every contact you make with an individual.

Here are some important considerations for the letter of inquiry:
□ Ask for consideration in a strong opening sentence that identifies your interest. Mention source of referral or posting
□ Demonstrate enthusiasm and energy through use of language and style appropriate to you
□ Use words that are simple and direct
□ Do not simply reiterate information on your resume, but quantify experiences and expand on accomplishments
□ Appeal to the employer's self-interest by demonstrating that you researched the organization
□ State how you can fulfill their needs
□ Bring up challenging ideas to spark employer's interest in talking with you
□ Give positive, truthful accounts of accomplishments and skills that relate directly to the position
□ Request to have a talk, discussion, or meeting, rather than an interview

The follow-up for this letter is critical because it makes and solidifies the connection and interest of your contact at the organization. Preferably, you should call the contact (early morning and late afternoon are the best times to try to reach someone), but if it is not possible you should email the contact. Call the contact at the time that you specified in the letter (i.e., usually 1-2 weeks after the letter is sent). If the contact is not available, leave a message for him/her on his/her voicemail and not with a secretary. Only try twice.

Once you are able to speak with the contact, introduce yourself and mention that you are following up on a letter of inquiry that you sent. Have a short pitch prepared and ask to meet with the contact in person. Be prepared for mini-phone interview. If there seems to be a position available, see what steps you need to take to apply or if you can meet for an informal meeting.

It's very important for you to remain resilient during this process. Be positive and open to any response and ready to move onto the next call. Get support from friends or fellow job seekers (i.e., have someone to call if things don't go well that will support you and encourage you to make the next call) if this type of search technique is not your strength.

It's vital to have several methods of job search in process to be successful in finding a position.