As you may or may not know, I left my position as a Data Analyst at the end of January to accept a position as a web content writer. My background is in writing, particularly marketing communications, so this new position is a better fit for me.
Unfortunately, there is now talk of budget cuts, with my 'new' position possibly being absorbed at the end of June. So, I am currently looking for a permanent full-time job in marketing
communications, ideally generating web content and coordinating a social
media presence.
As such, I thought I would track and write about my job search efforts, as it's a very different world out there, and it takes a variety of tricks and tools to find the right job at the right company at the right time. I plan to write about the different techniques and vehicles I try, and just provide an overview of my process. Feel free to chime in with comments with any tips or insights you might have.
State of the Job-Search Union
I've been looking for a job since early March, when budget talk started wafting through the ranks. I started with the usual - updated my resume on Monster and CareerBuilder, with no real effect. Though I did get a number of emails and calls from recruiters from different companies, all apparently trying to fill the same position - in St. Louis. I guess since I live in Kansas City, Missouri, they figure anywhere in Missouri is close enough. It took me several weeks to get them to stop presenting this "opportunity" to me.
As a part of my Monster and CareerBuilder accounts, I set up "job alerts", where the system automatically emails me with any job listings that match my criteria. I also set up an alert at Indeed.com, a site that aggregates listings from multiple job search websites.
From the various alerts, I have applied to 11 positions since March 7th, and have received one call that turned into a phone interview, that I thought went very well. The corporate hiring manager indicated the local supervisor would call to schedule an in-person interview in two weeks, but that call never came. I failed to get the corporate contact's name, so I had to resort to emailing the generic "jobs" email address to try to follow up, but received no response.
I also created an account at Dice.com, a job search website specifically for IT-related positions. While I would prefer a marketing communications position, if a technical writing/documentation position came up, I would definitely apply for it. I've gotten a few calls from that, but nothing that led to an interview.
So now I believe I need to get more aggressive, and creative. I am tapping in to more social media tools (which only makes sense, really, since I'd like that to be a significant part of my work).
Looking Forward
Over the course of several future posts, I plan to write about my adventures with:
- Reading Guerrilla
Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0, by Jay Conrad Levinson and David E.
Perry.
- Guerrilla Resume Revamp
- Updating/Beefing up my LinkedIn profile
- Networking via LinkedIn
- Researching target employers/companies
- "Rebooting" my Facebook Fan page (or "Like" page, as the case may be)
- Setting up a Posterous account
- Adding content to AngieWrites.com
- Local job club(s)
They say looking for a full-time job *is* a full-time job, and I'd have to agree with "them". I come home from work, make dinner, chat with the family, then get to work on job-hunt stuff. I must admit, it's hard not to feel discouraged by the lack of response to 11 job applications, and second-guessing my abilities, but in the words of Stuart Smalley, gosh darnit, I'm good enough! I know I am the answer to someone's work-related "pain", and I have something valuable to contribute. I just need to find that person, and they need to keep the faith that I'm out here, looking for them, too.
The Job Search Solution: The Ultimate System for Finding a Great Job Now! by Tony Beshara
