Do You Know Where Your Career Plan Is?

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, execunet, executive job search, hidden job market

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Whether you are in active job search or just keeping your options open, it's important to have a map for where you want to go. If you are employed and your New Year's resolution was to get a new job, you should visualize where you will be in the summer, as recent ExecuNet research with recruiters revealed that it takes, on average, seven months to transition.

But where to start? That's one of the most common questions we get at ExecuNet. At the executive level, you're less likely to find your next job by going online and sending out résumés; just a fraction of $200K positions are publicly posted anyway.

The key to effective job search is to envision it like any other high-level professional project, and use the same skill set that made you successful to reach that goal. If you're ready to embark on a new career campaign, here's how today's C-level executive can correlate what they know into a job search plan:

Set the strategy. Be introspective and really clear about your strengths, what you like to do and the best environment for you to succeed. Too often, job seekers let external influences drive their career instead of proactively carving out their own futures.
Find the right external partners. Target the companies and find the connections. Once you know what you can do, find the place where you can best perform the work, and the individuals who can help you get in the doorway. Don't worry whether there are currently open positions; your goal is to connect with the right people in the right places.
Align the goals with the marketing messages. Walk down the aisles of a supermarket and see all the products competing for your attention. That's what candidates look like to recruiters. To get noticed, you need to quickly display what you can do and why you are better and different than your competitors. Attend the workshop webinar Re-conceptualizing the Resume: Creating Personal Marketing Materials for 2012 and Beyond to learn how to get the right attention.
Build positive PR. Become known for what you know. On the job, people look to you for your expertise. Take that same thought leadership to the communities where your market finds information and be helpful.
Be a leader. Stay motivated, positive and know when to re-assess and re-adjust.

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Robyn Greenspan's avatar Robyn Greenspan
Robyn Greenspan is the Editor-in-Chief at ExecuNet, where she is responsible for setting and driving the editorial content engagement strategy across the private business network's publications and expert-led programming. She is also a Huffington Post blogger. You can follow her on Twitter @RobynGreenspan