Okay – we in the first part of June, and you never thought it (your job search) would take this long. The phone isn’t ringing, no one responds to your on-line applications, and you haven’t sniffed an interview in over three weeks. It is depressing. Right?
Hey – the job market is slow, and a search can be too long and very frustrating. But I’d bet you’ve gotten more done than you think. I have exactly these types of conversations with clients, and I’ve been in several just this week. There’s something about these calendar holidays that heightens the stress of job searching. No doubt about it.

So – let’s take a deep breath and review all of the real progress you’ve made in your search.

You Call This Progress?

1. Resume. Completing a first resume is an important accomplishment. If you’ve done the next (4) things as a part of that process, then you really have gotten a lot of hard and important work finished.

2. Story. Well – maybe stories. If you’ve read Daniel Pink’s wonderful book – A Whole New Mind, you learned that “story” is one of the “senses” we need to master to succeed in a new world. I’m no expert on that. But I will state that gathering and knowing your own unique success stories is extremely important to a successful search. A good way to think about these stories is to ask your self, “What story or event would I most like to talk about during a job interview?” These stories ought to be based upon events that left you with a strong feeling of professional and personal satisfaction (I call these “peak experiences”). After you have developed these experiences into stories you can tell, you should be able to pull together a broader sense of what you do best, and that sense can – and should – help you build a “master” story to offer as a message or “brand” for the market.

3. Message. Refining and honing your message is a huge step. By this, I mean have you determined what your value proposition is for future employers. Can you tell someone what it is you do well, why you do it well and explain how you’ve done those things in the past. You get a good sense of what this can be by working through your stories (see accomplishment #2 above).

4. Discovery that people will help. They will. Really. We all remember the old line, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well – it takes a community to re-launch a career. You will need to find a community with which you can connect. Your unique community can start with friends, co-workers, family, classmates, etc. It doesn’t matter where or how you start. But you must start. The world is more interconnected than ever before, and these connections are invaluable resources as you identify organizations where you might like to work or with actual job openings. So – it all comes down to the people you know.

5. Make a plan and work it. I am a big believer in developing a search plan based upon a commitment to work the plan for a set number of hours per week. Let’s say you can commit 30 hours to your search. What might that 30 hours look like? Here’s one way you could organize that time. Internet use – 10 hours, networking activity – 10 hours, volunteer activity – 5 hours, and skills enhancement – 5 hours. Using the internet ought to include looking at job boards and researching target organizations. The networking activity should be actions and steps designed to get you face-to-face or telephone meetings with new people. Obviously, the meetings themselves are a part of this block of time, too. This area is one that can and should GROW to be a bigger part of your plan, by the way. Volunteering is a great way to help set a routine, get out of the house and interact with others. Do it. I promise it will help you feel better, and might lead to job leads. (I had a client THIS week land a great lead from her first stint as a volunteer.) Build out your skills. The market is changing. Are your current skills ready and marketable for the jobs you are seeking? If not – enhance them. Go to a class, seek a certification, find ways to learn new ones (volunteer?), etc.

So – do you call this progress? I do. I am very uncomfortable with job search advice that lists progress as a series of “markers” like job interviews, job offers, etc. You cannot control those things no matter how hard you try. But you CAN control your effort and your commitment. Each of the 5 indicators of progress I outlined are yours to own and control. One of the worst parts of being in job search mode is a feeling that your world is beyond your control. By focusing on these items, you can impose a structure and sense of control upon your search, and THAT is real progress.