How To Manage Your Job Search
In this helpful episode of the 'Your Pursuit Of Happiness' podcast, Laura & Paul help you manage your job search so you can get the career you want.
But first . . .
While You're Here: Get The Jobseeker’s Guide To Finding Your Dream Job
Want some extra help to land the job of your dreams? 
The 'Jobseeker’s Guide To Finding Your Dream Job In Ireland's Financial Services & FinTech Industries' will help you put a plan in place to secure your dream job. You’ll know how to prepare well, how to ace those interviews, and how to handle the next stage.
You can download the free Jobseeker's Guide now.
Podcast Discussion
Ok, let's get into the discussion . . .
It Starts With Preparation
First, make sure you've done all the prep work. You've thought about what you want to do, the type of role, the level that you want to go in, and so on. Have an end goal in mind in terms of career.
Then, where do you start? What do you need to think about in advance? Where you want to end up? Narrow it down and be specific. Be clear on the type of company that you want to get involved with. Create a target list of those companies. Something that works really well, and not everybody is doing it, is creating job alerts. So, you can create them from the likes of LinkedIn, Indeed, and any other job boards that you use. They're just a really handy way to know what's going on in the market.
As part of your preparation, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date. We always recommend that candidates to treat their LinkedIn profile as their CV.
Tailor your CV for each role. You don't have to rejig the whole thing, it can be as simple as moving bullet points from the bottom to the top of a paragraph, or changing a personal profile, or whatever, just to highlight the things that are most relevant.
Track Your Applications
Next, look at tracking.
Track the applications that you're sending.
Make sure and don't apply for absolutely everything. Be quite selective about who you apply to.
Some people have a perception that if they apply directly, and then if they apply through a recruitment consultancy again, that it will increase their chances of actually getting an interview. That's not the case at all. Just make sure that you're applying to a company or a specific role just once. Employers don’t want to see multiple applications coming from different sources for the same role. It just doesn't look organised. It looks as if it's a scattergun approach; that you haven't really thought about what you want to do.
Follow Companies
Another thing to do is, apart from looking at the company's own website to see what opportunities are available, is to set up Google alerts for companies, specifically. You can set them up as one big, long, Boolean search stream or set them up individually. It's as simple as typing a company's name into Google, and I think an option comes up that just says, "Save alerts." Or something like that. But just a handy way to be kept informed. If you decide you want to work in a Brexit setup operation in Ireland (something that's topical at the moment), type in something like, ‘Brexit firms Ireland’ or something along those lines. You’ll get daily news alerts so you could be early to the party when a new firm is setting up over here.
Commit To It
If you've decided you want to go on a job search, or you're looking for a new role, you need to commit to it. You’ll need to think about the time it's going to take, and not just doing up your CV, or tailoring your CV for individual jobs, but you're going to need to take time out for interviews. Most clients that we work with, reasonably enough, will want to see people during kind of normal office hours. Some of them will accommodate where they can, but typically, you're going to need to take time out so you're going to have to leave work a bit earlier, or get an extra lunch break, or have a ‘dentist appointment’, or something along those lines to make it.
Go into it with a clear end goal in mind. Know the salary that you want to achieve, know what kind of work you want to get involved in, and so on.
Obviously, there are going to be times where you have to leave, where there's something going on that forces you to leave, but that's never the preferred mindset to approach a career search. Having an end goal in mind is always important.
Need Help?
If you want any information or are interested in one of our roles in the Fintech and financial services industry, get in touch with us at Top Tier Recruitment.
Check out our podcast and, if there's ever anything that you would like discussed, feel free to get in touch, info@ttrmail.com.
If you need further help with your career and interested to learn more about career coaching, visit Possible Coaching today to arrange a introductory call!