5 Steps to Never Worrying About a Job Search Again

Published by Ryan Healy on October 23rd, 2008 in Blogging, Employment | 10 Comments

The economy sucks right now. Every media site you go to is littered with stories about the pending doom and gloom of the job market. But the truth is, if you're young, smart and motivated, there is no reason finding a job should be difficult. You just have to put in the extra time and effort to make yourself employable. So for all you college seniors and recent grads, here's a 5 step process to making sure employers are knocking on your door, and not the other way around.

1. Figure out what your interests are

You hear it all the time, find your passion and pursue it. Well, I don't totally buy it. You don't have to find that one true calling to find a job you like, but you should, at the very least, have an interest in the field you pursue. As far as I'm concerned, being interested means that you would do the work in your free time – without getting paid. You'll most likely have multiple careers throughout your lifetime, so forget about searching for the perfect one.

What do you read about, talk about, or blog about on a regular basis? Can any of those things be translated into a career? I'm sure they can, you just have to get creative.

2. Specialize to make yourself employable

Learn as much as you possibly can about the ONE field you want to work in. It might take a few weeks, a few months, or even a year, but if you devote enough time and energy into learning everything you can about your field, you will be employable in any economy.

We just hired an SEO guru who has a degree in psychology, and was in grad school for information studies. One day, less than a year ago, he decided he loved social media and SEO. Now he's turning down job offers from Microsoft and saying no thanks to consulting requests every other day.

Our newest Software Engineer doesn't have a college degree, but we had to woo him away from multiple other companies in Madison to get him to join the team because of his expertise in open source software development. A 4-year degree is great, but true knowledge and expertise in a particular field will trump a degree any day of the week.

3. Share your ideas with the world (Hint: start a blog)

You can be the most knowledgeable 22 year old in the country on your subject matter, and you can have a great resume, but that's not enough. If you want employers to come to you, you have to communicate your knowledge and ideas to the rest of the world. Quite simply, this means start a blog! Blogging is, hands down, the best thing you can do for your career.

In his post about how much resumes suck, Robert Scoble says that only 1 out of 98 resumes he receives include a blog URL. Think about it, all you have to do to get to the top of the pile is put your URL in your cover letter or resume. And when you get to the top of the pile, your chances of getting the interview improve astronomically.

Additionally, a resume cannot show an employer your personality or express your ideas. A blog can. I wouldn't be in the position I am today if it wasn't for Employee Evolution. And I've heard of countless others who have turned their blog into a job. All you have to do is ask around the Brazen community to find some great blog success stories.

4. Control your online brand

When you decide to put your ideas out there for the world to see, you are making a conscious decision to market yourself as a brand. Dan Schawbel, the king of personal branding, has some great resources for anyone who decides its time to create "brand you." The short version is that you should pick an area to brand yourself in and be conscious of everything you do online.

But this doesn't mean you have to take down every Facebook picture of you drinking a beer. We're all fully rounded people. We all have a social life, and a work life. We just happen to live every part of our lives online these days. Use the appropriate social network or blog platform to show each side of your life, and be conscious of the image you project. But don't be scared, just don't do anything illegal, and you'll be fine.

5. Establish a Network of weak ties

We've all heard how important networking is for your career, but how exactly do you network with experienced or high profile people when you're barely out of school? It's easy, you put yourself out there. Start by researching who you want to get in touch with, then send them an email that adds some type of value and request a quick meeting.

In the past two weeks, I've had the pleasure of speaking with high level folks from companies like Accenture and Ceridian. And I've had random meetings with young CEO's of great start-up companies like Banyan Link and Unigo. I used to be unsure of setting up phone calls just to chat, but I've now realized that that's what successful people do. They connect with other successful or soon to be successful people, just because. And if you want to guarantee yourself a job no matter how bad the economy is, that's what you have to do. You have to create as many weak ties as possible.

There are many different ways to approach your career. If you want to find decent jobs by actively job hunting for the rest of your life, a good approach is to have a degree, a solid resume and some relevant experience. But a great way is to do all those things, and embrace this 5 step process. Do it right and you'll be amazed how many potential career opportunities come knocking on your door.