Friday, April 27, 2012

16-Week Job Campaign

One of the biggest handicaps to the job search is the "Honey-Do List." Everyone thinks because you are unemployed you have lots of time on your hands to do what they want you to do.

Wrong. You have a job...Getting your next job. And you need to be working it at least 20 hours per week, but really 30-40 hours per week. The less you work your job, the longer it takes to find one.

The average job search is taking 30+ weeks. That is over seven months without a pay check. If you want to work, then work at getting work.

Here are some key steps to getting a job fast.

(1)Get a routine. When you have a job, you have a routine you follow every morning. Get a routine for your job search. Start the day right and keep going. Shower, dress, leave the house. Do whatever you have to do to start your routine and keep on going. Start a schedule and plan every day what you are going to do.

(2)Find a place to work. Home can be hard. If you have an office/den at home, then you might be okay, but don't count on it. Better to get away. With a laptop and a cell phone a library study room becomes a great office. Or the college where you studied, or any college in the area. If you are at home, set office hours so your family knows you are serious about getting this done.

(3)Get help. You cannot do this alone. Form two teams to help you - Accountability and Peer Teams. The Accountability Team is a small group of people who are mean enough to ask you the hard questions about your search. They will hold you accountable to following your routine and listening to your weekly report. Some of this can be done by email and phone, but you need to see at least one member of this team face-to-face each week. The Peer Team is others who are unemployed. Think about how many companies unemployed people come in contact with each week. They know more about what is going on out there than anyone else. Get a group and meet together weekly to share information.

It becomes very easy to just become depressed and stop looking for work. Don't let that happen to you. The more you work at getting a job, the sooner you will get a job.

Here is a 16-week job campaign. Easy to follow, and is based on spending only 20 hours per week in the search. The more time you spend, the less time it will take.





Month 1 – Week 1

 Identify tools needed for Campaign

o Telephone

o Computer

o Office/Place to Work

o Network of Contacts

o Resume

o Portfolio

o Website

o Blog

o Twitter

o Other

 Determine Values

o Type of positions willing to accept

o Salary range

o Benefits required

o Geography

o Time

o Travel

o Deal Breakers

o Other

 Initiate update of Resume and Portfolio

 Start 100 Cards networking list

 Create initial profile on ldsjobs.org

 Meet with Ward leadership



Month 1 – Week 2

 Set Campaign objectives – BIG IDEA

 Begin Discovery Experiences

o Wise Wanderings Map

o StrengthsFinder 2.0

 Develop a list of 50 or more target companies for review

 Complete Career Workshop 1

 Determine who and invite Accountability Team to help

 Complete updated resume

 Continue Portfolio collection

 Complete profile on ldsjobs.org

 Form a Peer Team with other job candidates





Month 1 – Week 3

 Meet with Career Advisor

o Review Campaign objectives

o Demonstrate use of Power Statements

o Review resume

o Review ldsjobs.org profile

o Review portfolio

o Review Accountability Team

 Begin calls to 100 Cards

 Begin filtering 50 target companies through Wanderings and Strengths

 Test resume on CareerBuilder, Monster, etc

 Begin Informational Interviews

 Meet with Peer Team

 Report to Accountability Team



Month 1 – Week 4

 Continue calls to 100 Cards

 Update resume based on internet test

 Update ldsjobs.org profile based on internet test

 Network into target companies

 Add new target companies to maintain list at 25 minimum

 Continue Informational Interviews

 Complete video interview with Professional Program Team

 Accept and attend all job interviews from test

 Meet with Peer Team

 Report to Accountability Team





Month 2 – Weekly Activities

 Report to Accountability Team

 Meet with Peer Team

 Continue calls to 100 Cards

 Tract into at least 3 new companies each week

 Complete at least 5 interviews per week

o Job Interviews

o Informational Interviews



Month 2 – Monthly Activities

 Meet with Career Advisor for update and refinement of Campaign

 Complete Career Workshop 2

 Update objectives

 Build Action Plans for targeted companies

o Review Action Plans with Career Advisor

o Implement Action Plans for targeted companies

 Complete a Second Interview practice with Career Advisor

 Meet with Ward leadership



Month 3 – Weekly Activities

 Report to Accountability Team

 Meet with Peer Team

 Continue calls to 100 Cards

 Tract into at least 3 new companies each week

 Complete at least 8 interviews per week

o Job Interviews

o Informational Interviews



Month 3 – Monthly Activities

 Meet with Career Advisor for update and refinement of Campaign

 Refine resume

 Refine portfolio

 Update objectives

 Add new targeted companies

 Update Action Plans for targeted companies

o Review Action Plans with Career Advisor

o Implement Action Plans for targeted companies

 Meet with Ward leadership 

Month 4 – Weekly Activities

 Report to Accountability Team

 Meet with Peer Team

 Continue calls to 100 Cards

 Tract into at least 3 new companies each week

 Complete at least 10 interviews per week

o Job Interviews

o Informational Interviews



Month 4 – Monthly Activities

 Meet with Career Advisor for update and refinement of Campaign

 Refine resume

 Refine portfolio

 Update objectives

 Add new targeted companies

 Update Action Plans for targeted companies

o Review Action Plans with Career Advisor

o Implement Action Plans for targeted companies

 Meet with Ward leadership

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