Rebooting a Job Search

After scouring the endless number of technology job boards and Websites, sending out countless resumes and meeting with your network, at what point do you stop and say: This is not working. Job searching is a grind, and if the energy being put in is not warranting actual results, you may need some help rebooting the process.

How do you know if your efforts are not working? When you are not getting interviews, you are not hearing about new opportunities and you haven’t been outside in three days, said outplacement expert Tim Schoonover of OI Partners in Cincinnati in a recent job search revamp article on MSNBC.com. He advised:

“It’s when the job search starts becoming inactive, and you begin to lose interest in it, that you need to try something different.”

So what do you do? There are a host of things to consider, but career experts advise targeting 20 to 30 companies that you would like to work for and put a serious amount of effort in researching names and contacts at these companies. Use LinkedIn and ask to connect to those people, ask kindly for informational interviews, and offer these contacts relevant contacts in your network.

“LinkedIn is an important site for job hunters. So, create a profile if you don’t have one, and use it to post your résumé, articles you’ve written, key PowerPoint presentations you’ve created and so on,” said David Perry of Guerrilla Job Search.

If you have been considering a career change or do not feel you are up-to-date with current trends in what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for from you, it may be time to invest in a career coach and a professional resume writer. Getting fresh, outside perspective can be a healthy option, but do your homework. These things can be expensive, so be a good consumer and research the market for your career level. The range of these services can be wide, so be diligent.

Alison Doyle, career expert and author of “Internet Your Way to a New Job: How to Really Find a Job Online,” suggests a series of steps to reboot the job search, including the creation of yourself as an online brand and focusing your job search. On professional branding, Doyle wrote on her About.com guide to job searching:

““There may not be much difference between personal and professional branding, but from my perspective, your professional brand is what matters to a potential employer, networking contact, or anyone who can help you find a job or grow your career. It’s more than a case of making sure your personal brand reflects who you are as a person. It’s also making sure that the information available about you online is visible, available, and relevant – to where you are in your career and where you want to go next.”“