by Beverly Aarons
16. July 2009 08:19
If you've been following this blog for any length of time and taken our advice, you've probably put together a very polished resume and have a general cover letter that can be tweaked for each position. But a polished resume and cover letter won't get you a job if you're not doing the necessary work to get the results you want. Many job seekers make the mistake of making their job search goals too general and never measuring their efforts. They will say, "I'm going to send out some resumes this week" instead of getting specific. The result is that many job seekers stay on the job market for longer than necessary because they haven't done the work and they haven't created a measurable system for setting and reaching their goals.
Here's what job seekers need to do:
1. Set weekly and daily goals for your job search. Get specific and aim high. Don't worry if you fall short. Remember the old saying, "shoot for the moon and reach the stars." For example, if you want to send out 20 resumes a week, then you should send out at least 4 resumes a day to reach your goal. You may actually only send out two a day; but that's better than none at all which is a probable result without specific goals.
2. Take note of what you have actually accomplished for the day. Don't feel bad if you haven't completed everything, just aim to improve your performance the next day.
3. Tell someone what you're doing and be accountable to them. Ask a trusted friend or follow job seeker to hold you accountable for your daily and weekly progress.
By writing down your goals and recording your actual progress, your job search results become measurable. Measurable actions and results leave little room for self-deception about what efforts you did or didn't make to find the job of your dreams.