In addition to your Job Search Planner, keep a diary of detailed notes of every person you talk to, your impression of the company and its personnel, and what was said on the telephone and at interviews. Such notes can be helpful when making follow-up telephone calls and writing letters and thank-you notes.
Using your Job Search Planner in conjunction with your dairy will help avoid mix-ups when making or keeping appointments, and help you remember them. You will also make yourself more competitive in the marketplace, because most people look for a job in a hap hazard way. If you rely solely on your memory, you may forget or overlook important details.
If you have a computer, you can use it to set up your Job Search Planner and print out weekly records to keep your campaign up to date.
How to Use the Job Search Planner
This is a practical and professional system that permits you to chart a day-by-day record of the job hunt. Looking for a job requires that you do something every day. This means tracking down contacts, writing letters, making telephone calls, setting up information interviews, following up, and keeping an eagle eye out when reading newspapers or magazines for information and contacts that may be helpful to you.
Start to organize your job hunt with a legal-size, lined yellow pad. With a ruler, make four vertical columns labeled, in order. Company, Address, Contact, Telephone Number.
Take this pad to the library when researching companies and clearly pencil in the required information in each of the columns. This will be your working contact list. You'll also include the names of contacts you obtain from friends and business acquaintances. Obviously, not all the contacts will be helpful. For those that are, transfer the information to your Job Search Planner, which will be your active contact list.
Plan to organize your campaign by setting aside some time each day to do the many chores that are required in a job-hunting campaign. Your Job Search Planner chart can be divided into sections. The first section is headed Company & Contact. Here you keep a record of the name of the person you talk to or interview, the name of his or her company, and the date.
The next three columns must be headed Preparation, Interview, and Result.
Preparation. The first section requires research in order to get the information you need. You've got to research the companies, target those that interest you, and then get the names of the executives, including titles and addresses, through a telephone call or a current reference book in the library. This section also has space for information interviews, should you feel them necessary, and dates you mailed out cover letters and resumes. The dates are important, because if you don't get an answer within a week or two, you can make a follow-up call to find out if your letter and resume were delivered. By keeping meticulous records, you'll be able to follow every lead and know when someone has not replied to your letter or phone call. You can also see what methods work best for you.
If you plan to do information interviews, now is the time to schedule them. As you progress during this part of your job search, keep your day-to-day records, including the date, and jot down your impressions in the diary. In the Preparation section, there must be space to write in the dates you mailed your cover letters and resumes and made follow-up telephone calls.
Interview. This section must be designed to record your interviews, appointments, and your assessments, which you record in your diary for future use. A reminder for thank-you notes, and your follow-up telephone calls is included. Don't overlook any of these steps. The thank-you note, for example, is often forgotten or overlooked by job hunters. It's a way of expressing your appreciation for the time the interviewer or executive spent with you, reaffirming your interest in the job and the company, and mentioning something that may have been overlooked during the interview. The follow-up letter also permits you to introduce new ideas that occurred to you after the interview and to highlight the skills and talents you can bring to the company.
Remember, the more interviews you get, the better your chances of clinching the job. Don't be discouraged by rejections. They are part of the job hunt.
Result. The Result category is where you hit pay dirt. You have your second or third interviews, you get out your thank-you notes, and keep in touch with would-be employers by telephone. The payoff is the job offer and acceptance.
That's the way the Job Search Planner works. Using it in conjunction with your diary/notebook on a daily basis will give you a "bottom line" for your campaign. You will know at every stage of the search precisely where you are, and what contacts you still have to make.
A job campaign is like wheel that never stops turning. If you keep up with it on a daily basis, it is easy to stay current.
If you get too far behind, you may never catch up. That is why it is so important to run your job-hunting campaign like a business. If you know what you want, have a plan, and execute it in a professional manner, you will greatly increase your chances of success.
There are also psychological benefits. By keeping daily records and planning your weekly chores ahead of time, you'll be in control of your program. You'll also know what has to be done, and where you have to do more work.
If you run a haphazard campaign, you'll risk missing or mixing up interview dates, possibly fail to follow up by tele phone or letter, diminish your chances of getting a job. You might get lucky and hit the job jackpot, but luck usually is the companion of hard work.
Also keep in mind there is no single best way to get a job. The secret is to keep plugging away every day. Try to be innovative. What can you do to outshine your unknown competition? You can incorporate ideas and suggestions in your letters to interviewers. For example, if you are a salesperson, you might suggest a technique to increase sales. Depending on the field you're in, think of ideas that might help the company. True, there is an element of risk in making such suggestions, but if you do your homework about the company, you have the opportunity to enhance your image and present something different and creative. Be willing to take a chance.
