Setting Realistic Goals and Willing to Invest

Ideally, you should try to get several different job offers at once- for several reasons. First, it gives you the opportunity to "play one against the other" to negotiate for the best possible opportunity. Second, even if salaries are the same, it gives you the opportunity to decide which job to take, rather than to have to settle for the only one at hand. Third, not every job-search technique works as well for every candidate. Some work best for some; others work best for others. So no job-seeker can afford to overlook any opportunity.

Set realistic goals even if it hurts the ego

Can a person who works with a consulting firm specializing in strategic and financial planning hope to secure a line management job in a manufacturing firm? Can an individual who's been out of work for six months hope to land a job paying 20 percent more than he did on his previous job? Can a vice-president of sales with no general management experience hope to find a position in general management? Of course he can hold out for whatever he damn well pleases! There is always a chance he'll succeed, but there are a lot more chances he won't. Particularly, if he has set a time limit for his search. Still, the cases above are real. They involve people I've worked with in the past year. If all were frustrated in securing their goals-frustrated enough to come to consult with me-all brought much of the frustration on themselves. I'm not suggesting these job-seekers should not have established goals for their job searches that meant a happier, more rewarding life ahead. But these should be attainable goals. Otherwise they can throw an entire job search off the track.



What can you do to insure that your goals aren't unrealistic?

• No searching in Conflicting goals.
  

For example, if you won't move from your current home, you limit your job-search opportunity significantly. So holding out at the same time for a major increase in salary may not be realistic. On the other hand, if you're willing to go to Timbuktu, perhaps you'll find a company there that is willing to pay you the 30 percent increase you are seeking. If you insist on both goals you can count on a tough search. So don't start complaining if it seems to take forever.

• Don't expect miracles.
  

Expect to do as well as what others in a similar situation to your own achieved, but not much beyond. Yours is not a special case!

• Put a priority on your goals.
  

If getting a job fast is all-important to you, then recognize that this probably rules out getting a much higher salary

• Review your goals periodically
  

It may be that what seemed a realistic goal at the start of a campaign is an unrealistic one two months into it. Hanging on to an objective when eight weeks of searching has shown there is no real likelihood of your achieving it is senseless. The tough thing, however, is to admit it.

Be willing to invest enough in the best investment you could ever make-yourself!

In my lecture on job-seeking strategy and planning, I deal a little with the administrative work of job search-such as finding a source to type and print your resume and broadcast letters. In this class I'm invariably asked: "Can I type my own resume and letters? I've got a pretty good machine." Or "Do I have to have my resume printed? I don't need more than a hundred copies. Can I put them on the Xerox in the office?" Or "Do I really need to buy letterhead paper? Can't I just type my name at the top?" My answer to all these questions runs about the same: "Hey, who are you investing in? Aren't you worth the money to have your resume professionally printed? Aren't you important enough to yourself to invest the thirty dollars or so in stationery it takes to look like a first-class candidate?"

Anything you as a candidate do to cut corners in your job search is likely to cost you money if skimping means it takes you longer to land a job. If your resume typed on an available portable is less impressive than one typed on an IBM Selectric and submitted by your competition, then saving a few dollars may result in keeping you out of work. Anything you do that presents you in a less favorable light than necessary might keep you from getting the one job that could make your career. John Malloy, in his book 'Dress for Success' makes the point, that if you look successful, you have a better chance to be successful. His point actually applies to every aspect of your job search. Do without going out to dinner. Eat macaroni and cheese twice a week. But don't be cheap about your resume, your letters, your mailing lists. The money you spend in job search is the best investment in your future you'll ever make.