7 wise ideas for making job hunting more relaxed

If you’re looking for a new job right now, you are in the PERFECT place. Come New Year, everyone will be dusting off their CVs and looking to put their resolutions into action by job searching, and the market will be flooded with candidates. So even if your contract has ended, you’ve been laid off, your role has been made redundant, or you’ve just walked out of your workplace because you couldn’t take it any more, this is your time to shine! Getting active now and landing your dream job before the competition heats up in the new year is a super smart thing to do. Buuuuuut… it’s also the end of the year, you’re probably burnt out, emotionally exhausted, and holding out for holidays rather than wanting to spruik up for your job hunt. So here’s 7 wise ideas for making the process easy, simple, and more relaxed. 

Wise Idea #1: Get focused

You have to know what you want. Why? To contain your energy. If you want your job search to be relaxed, you don’t want to be scatter-gunning your energy all over the place. You can appear inconsistent and inauthentic to the market. You won’t show up as your best self to your dream job interview. And you can start to send unconscious cues and signals of flakiness, or even desperation. If you won’t commit to them, why should they commit to you? You need to channel that energy and get focused. Map your transferable skills (these are the high-level skills you can use in any role, any company, any industry, any country), then choose 3 interrelated tracks.

For example: 

• If you have a Change Management background - Change Management, Communications, Facilitation
• If you have a Learning background - Learning and Development/Training, Change Management, Facilitation
• If you have a Project Manager background - Project Management, Risk, Delivery/Implementation
• If you have a Marketing background - Marketing, Communications, and Change Management

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket in an uncertain economy, give yourself the gift of choice, and have the flexibility to respond to what the market is demanding right now. Write a CV tailored for each track (altering your CV for every role is madness - a well-written CV should allow you to use that industry/profession-specific version to apply for 95% of roles in that industry/profession). But only do 3 - any more and you’ll spread your focus too thin. And you’ll likely find common transferable skills between the 3 tracks. For example, for me when I was once going for both Marketing and Change Management roles at the same time, the common transferable skills were: transforming human behaviour, communications, creativity, campaigns/projects, and launches/go lives. Marketing and Change aren’t actually all that different - one focuses on the external market of consumers or clients, and the other on the internal market of staff. You're looking to deliver the same value in any track, just through different executions.

Wise Idea #2: Set your salary range

An amazing way to set your focus is to put a minimum salary figure into your job search engine (like  Seek, Indeed, Jora… LinkedIn Jobs is missing this filter so candidate beware!). This automatically filters down jobs for you. If I put “Change Management” in Sydney I get 1,123 jobs. When I filter to minimum $200k, this becomes only 171 jobs. Much more achievable, much less overwhelming. Set your salary range filters and set up alerts to get notified for new roles posted. Setting your MINIMUM salary figure is important, too, because it keeps your promise to yourself about what you’re worth. You can decide your minimum based on:

• what you currently earn/last earned
• your goal salary
• recommendations from recruiters, or
• industry research on current rates.

BTW - I provide a guide on pay rates for Change Management in my "Intro to Change Management" webinar.

Salaries may be slightly lower during times of inflation or recession. It’s up to you to decide whether you drop your band or stay true to what you believe you’re worth. 

Wise Idea #3: Use your network

Let people in your personal and professional life know that you’re looking for a new job and what development and growth you want. So often, your networks know of someone who has a fabulous role opening up that’s perfect for you. When I was training to be a Coach, they drummed into us: “Your network is your net worth.” And: “Life is relationships.” Leverage that - people love to help people they like and trust. It also makes reaching out less awkward when it’s time for reference checks! And of course, you can ask previous managers or clients to write a LinkedIn Recommendation for you to make your profile pop. If you want to throw the green “Open to work” banner up on your LinkedIn profile, you totally can. Personally, I’d prefer to take a more personal approach to my network. And if you need to keep your job hunt confidential, be selective on who you share with and let them know that.

Wise Idea #4: Use recruiters

And here “the hunter” (that’s you) may become “the hunted”. Recruiters can become your best allies in your search for a new role. Not only is it literally their full-time job, they can give ideas on salary ranges, the inside scoop on upcoming roles not yet advertised or positions that are confidential, and advocate for you as talent on their books to their incredible clients. Recruiters are sometimes given a bad rap - I have found them to be knowledgeable, caring, and professional and am grateful to have them in my network. This is also why it’s important to use job search sites and keep your profile up-to-date with an awesome CV - the more active you are, the more you will bubble to the top of algorithms and recruiters will reach out to YOU. Recruiters are bound by client confidentiality - another reason to tap into this awesome resource!

Wise Idea #5: Understand the job ad wish list

All job ads are a wish list – written for a unicorn of a person that doesn’t exist (and if they do, they’ll probably be met with “You’re too experienced for this role”). So, if you have 70%-80% of the required skills and experience, the other 20%-30% can be growth opportunities. If you grow and work on yourself and your own energy, openness and readiness, you’ll attract employers that do the same and that hire you because of, not despite, your gaps. And if you really are too experienced for all the roles? It might be time to level up and jump out of the employment market into the consulting market so you can be seen and appreciated for the expert you are.

Wise Idea #6: Explain redundancies and career gaps

No one can hold something against you if you own it for yourself. The role was made redundant, not you: it happens, own it. If you feel you were managed out unfairly due to politics or cultural fit, explain that it wasn’t the best environment for you, that you’ve gotten clearer on the type of team and culture you want to be part of, that you want to add value, and that you’re open to communication and feedback. If you have a career gap, frame it around your goals and objectives, what you discovered about yourself, and how it’s shaped your career aspirations and direction moving forward. Whatever lurks in your career history, it will only be a problem if you make it a problem. You can disclose what you’re comfortable with, but framing can smooth all [perceived!] sins and shames.

#7: Build your confidence

Go forth and be fruitful in your job hunt - the only thing standing between you and your new role is your own fear and doubt. Fear of rejection is a cruel companion. There's an abundance of roles and an abundance of opportunities. It's up to YOU to take the first step. It’s your job to stay strong, stay confident, stay brave and keep courageously applying. So do what it takes to stay emotionally and mentally fit, which is why having a supportive community and coach like I offer in Leading Successful Change can be so helpful.

I’m super passionate about helping women like you maximise their Change Management career and set themselves up for certainty and success. That’s why I’ve put together a brand-new free video training on the 7 costly mistakes you might make in your Change Management career. If you want to learn more about these mistakes AND how you can avoid them for yourself, watch my free video training today.

>> CLICK HERE to watch my free video training on the 7 costly mistakes you might make in your Change Management career

Lata xx

P.S. This free training is a brand-new video where I step you through in detail the 7 costly mistakes most people (myself included in some cases!) make in their Change Management career. I want you to avoid these mistakes so you can make the most of your Change career, so give the video a watch today and set yourself up for certainty and success:

>> CLICK HERE to watch my “7 costly mistakes” free video training