How to prepare for your next job search

I’d like to tell you that you never have to prepare for your next job search but as we are learning from the recent announcement of Bank of America laying off 30,000 in the next few years and the subsequent announcements from Goldman Sachs and others, you never know what will happen next.

Last year, I worked with a former Bank of America (BOA) Assistant Vice President of Business Optimization & Associate Experience who had come to BOA as a result of a merger in 2006. He had 15 years of progressively more responsible positions within the initial organization and after the acquisition. But with the economic challenges of the recession, he lost his position in 2009. I have worked with many others who had planned life long careers within one organization only to be cut loose by either the organization failing or new management using creative restructuring to eliminate their positions.

Job loss is a shocker and it affects everyone in the family not just the job holder. When stability and lifestyle is threatened, everyone struggles and needs to regroup. You might end up starting over when you definitely didn’t see that in the cards.

What should you do to prepare for a job search?

1. Take a look at your resume. Does it have keywords, accomplishments, and clearly show your value? The resume is always the starting point. If it is not up to snuff, everything else you built on it will lose value.
2. When you write a cover letter are you making sure it is targeted and speaks to what the employer is searching for in the job description?
3. Have you explored social media and created well written profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter? You need every advantage possible in today’s job search and a well-run social media search will put you in contact with a network that can shorten your job search.
4. Are you building your physical network too? Join organizations like Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary or your own professional designation and get involved with a role that uses your job skills. Volunteer for community programs, such as Relay for Life, Special Olympics, Salvation Army, and your area food pantry. You will meet others with like minds and also get an understanding of what challenges others face.
5. Have you started to prepare for interviews? Practicing questions is always a good place to start and boning up on career professionals blog posts on interviewing and job search in general will make you more confident when your turn to interview comes.

The best defense is a good offense I hear from my football family. Your best defense in a job search is creating an offense that prepares you for the next job search.