Putting Your Plan into Action
When you're working on your self-marketing campaign, you're really not working with a linear process. You'll move back and forth through different kinds of activities as your job search progresses and your situation changes. But the first thing you must do, in any event, is to put together some kind of a preliminary resume, then begin work on some of the activities suggested. Carry on those activities and the ones outlined in this chapter at the same time. That way, you'll move your campaign along faster and make the most efficient use of your time. Both make contributions to more than one phase of the job search-and some of them will stand you in good stead later when you're again among the working.
Early in your search, you're likely to have a tremendous desire to stay at home and lick your wounds. Don't. You need to get yourself ready as quickly as you can to make the necessary contacts to get things moving. Still, you may make a grave error if you begin contacting people and companies before you really know exactly where you should be heading. You need to organize yourself and develop your marketing strategies first.
Find Out Who and What You Are
At this time in your life, your goals and your life in general have undergone major changes from what they were when you were younger. Before you rush into a new job based on your old goals and life style, evaluate carefully where you are right now-and where you want to go, Chances are that you should change your life goals. You probably no longer really want the job that was your ultimate goal 10 to 20 years ago. Or, you may have already reached your initial goal and it's time for you to reset your goals instead of drifting aimlessly through this period. Take the time and effort to study yourself now. You may be surprised to find out how different your current needs and wants are from those you had in your twenties, thirties and even early forties.
Don't rush into a new job that is unsatisfactory for you just because you want to be employed. Far too many people who do this find themselves unemployed again after a short time. They may quit or be terminated-or remain in an unhappy and possibly dead-end situation.
You don't want to repeat their errors. You want to deal with the reasons other than general business conditions which explain why you were terminated from your previous position. You need to take enough time to determine the work environment in which you will be most successful. You should adequately survey the job market, and determine what you could do best in that market. You also need to take the time to determine what market segments exist, then select the market segment which best matches your overall life goals.
There are at least two ways you can determine what to do with the rest of your life. You may contact an industrial psychologist or counseling firm-or you can study this on your own. Most job-search specialists suggest that the most useful study is the one you undertake by yourself. But many people can't successfully complete this alone, either because they procrastinate or because they don't know where to start.
If you've already tried on your own and have decided to go for help, your first step is to locate a good, competent psychologist or counselor who isn't going to charge you an arm and a leg. Most universities have psychologists on their staffs who do this kind of counseling on a full- or part-time basis. You can also check with the American Personnel and Guidance Association for qualified practitioners in your area. In their Directory ofApproved Counseling Agencies, they list those agencies in the various states which maintain high professional standards. Take the time to check, because the whole realm of counseling is an area which has attracted a large number of quacks. Especially in these times of relatively high executive job instability, someone is always around to take advantage of those who are experiencing adversity.
What should you expect from counseling? First, the counselor should suggest that you undergo a battery of psychological and skill evaluation tests. Then you will undergo a series of relatively structured interviews where you will review the results of your tests-your strengths, weaknesses, areas of interest and so on. Only then will you be ready to discuss and evaluate your job goals and objectives. This process should help you find out:
- If you are suited to the work you've been doing.
- What shortfalls or deficits you have that you can do something about.
- What your strengths are.
- What your interests are.
- What you should be doing.
