Answer:
Jobhunting often takes a long time because job seekers are taken by surprise. They're caught off guard and totally unprepared. They've taken employment for granted. They haven't thought much about their careers or made contingency plans. In short, they have no "plan B." They've assumed that things at work will remain "pretty much the same," and that "everything will work out alright"--often a big mistake.
If you're employed now, here are ten ways you can shorten a future job search:
- Expect that your job could end at any moment, even if you own the company.
- Network (make friends) heavily inside and outside your company and industry.
Seize the opportunity to help others. - Stay on the cutting edge of your technology. Never be satisfied with your current
Skillset. Keep learning and innovating. Don't be left behind. - Know yourself inside out. Be tested by a professional career evaluation firm
that tests all levels, from entry-level to CEO. - Keep a high-impact, results-oriented resume ready to be FAXed to a recruiter
on short notice--TODAY. - Print personalized letterhead, envelopes, and business cards. If you have an
Internet e-mail address, include it. - Develop relationships with the recruiters you meet. Stay in touch.If you help them now--give them names of job openings and potentialcandidates--they may help you later.
- Wear fashionable clothing, eyeglasses, and accessories--anything else says,
"old, out-of-style, over the hill." - Send a thank you note to anyone who takes you to lunch, does you a favor,
or helps you on a work project. - Last of all, and maybe most important, be supportive of others.
Make sure that when people end a conversation with you they feel better
than when they began it.
To sum up: Keep yourself well-prepared. Stay in a job search mindset every day of your worklife, and you'll seldom, if ever, be unemployed.