Long-Term Planning For a Successful Non-Legal Career Search

Once you have tested your ideas about your job search through the networking process, you will want to put together an overall job hunting strategy.

For the overcommitted law student or the working attorney, this is a very important organizational tool. One theory indicates that for every $10,000 in salary that a job hunter is expecting, he or she will have to devote one month of full-time work to looking for a job. Knowing that your time is limited, you should decide at this point how you will put together a strategy to work within your individual constraints. You may want to consider some of the following elements:

 

1. Action Plan—What are your weekly goals—your tasks to accomplish? How much time are you going to devote to your job search? Be realistic. If you set goals that are too aggressive, you will be less likely to follow through. Make each goal simple, clear-cut and easy to accomplish.
2. Contacts—Who can assist you in this process? Who do you know who works in the area you are interested in? What contacts did you make during the networking process that could be helpful to you now?
3. References—Who will you want to use as references, and how can you effectively coach them about your job search? (Remember that references can also be "contacts.")
4. Letters—How will you write an effective cover or thank you letter that focuses on the skills and qualifications that you plan to use in your new job?
5. Interviewing—What do you want to say about yourself? How can you become comfortable talking about yourself as it applies to this position? How will you get the interviewer to focus on your skills and the job?
6. Negotiation—When you are offered a position, how will you effectively negotiate salary and fringe benefits? Have you determined what the salary ranges are for the positions you will be pursuing? Do you know your value in the position?

The Marketing Plan

The job hunting process necessitates putting together a solid marketing plan, as if you were a product that the employer is looking to purchase on behalf of the organization. Remember always that the job hunting process is one of mutual choice; there are always two decision makers along the way.

While it is your responsibility to define and describe your skills and accomplishments accurately, it is the employer's responsibility to "sell" you on the merits of the organization.

The job hunting process can be filled with rejection if you are not careful in targeting your resources and energy toward the appropriate categories. You should continue to discriminate regarding your job choices. One ongoing problem that people have in the job hunting process is that they are not picky enough! Because we so much hate the rejection process of job hunting, we will do almost anything to have it over; so we accept positions that we do not really want.

One of the reasons that writing resumes and cover letters is preferred to personal contact is so that our "paper" will be rejected instead of "us." Unfortunately, it is very difficult to communicate who we really are on paper. If we had more confidence in our abilities and what we would have to offer to specific employers who meet our well-studied criteria, we would have less difficulty dealing with the rejection part of the job hunting process. The job hunt is, ultimately, a threat to our self-image. It is important to remember to build in activities during the job hunting process that will enhance your self-image.
 

• Maintain a support network. This should include friends, relatives, your spouse, teachers, mentors, or other job hunters.
• Call in favors. Ask a friend to take you to lunch and describe your positive points. Or have a friend listen to you discuss the difficulties you are having in finding a job.
• Get daily exercise. This is a way of building in positive reinforcement and taking care of yourself.
• Take Friday afternoons off. No one makes hiring decisions on Friday afternoons. Treat yourself; go to the park, spend time with a friend or read something mindless.
• Consider part-time or volunteer positions. If job-hunting is your primary task for some period, consider working part-time or as a volunteer to give your week some structure and to reassure you that you are competent and productive. This volunteer or part-time position could also provide leads and contacts for your job search.
• Keep track of your accomplishments! Some job hunters like to keep a diary of their activities—employers contacted, informational interviews held, research conducted. This is a way that you can reward yourself and see the progress that you have made.

Remember that only part of the unique individual that is you is presented to employers during a job search. At times in the process of seeking employment, this is difficult to remember. You do not lose your skills, abilities, or your personality when you are out of work!