If you have found yourself getting nowhere in your job search, and you have been unemployed or underemployed for far longer than you ever imagined you’d be, here are a few guidelines for reassessing and fine-tuning your approach and identifying problem areas.
“People should analyze `Where am I not having success?'” said Frank Fox, executive director of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches.
There are three main areas to begin this evaluation.
First, make sure you are looking in the right market, Fox says. Are you applying for jobs that you are qualified for in the first place? Are you applying to companies that have legitimate openings in those jobs?
Be realistic.
If the outlook for your specific job or industry is waning, it’s time to look for other ways to apply your skill set to industries with brighter projections.
“A lot of the people who are unemployed are really victims of changing industries,” said Gayle Oliver, founder of Execume, an Atlanta-based career management firm.
Making such a move requires taking time to learn about the marketplace. Analyze what the up-and-coming industries are and what training you need to break into them, Oliver says.
Along with your research, networking is one of the most powerful tools out there for transitioning to a new industry, Oliver says.
The second step in reassessing your job search is to find where your current strategy is faltering. Is it at the resume level? The interview level? How do you know?
“Either their resume is not getting them the interview–because that’s the whole purpose of the resume, not to get a job, but to get an interview,” Fox said.
“Or, if they’re getting interviews but not getting job offers, it means they’re not interviewing well.”
Once you’ve narrowed down the trouble spot, Fox recommends finding an professional adviser, or even a helpful book, to help you craft that interview-winning resume or to develop your interviewing skills.
