The Job Search Process Starts with Strategy

We have all heard stories about Silicon Valley start ups that began with plans drawn up on a napkin. This kind of creative process is the first step when considering a job change. It is really classical problem solving. The first step is acknowledging that change is necessary. Critical thinking is the next step in deciding where to
direct your career – and it starts with strategy.

Most people update their resume, adding the last job and posting it on-line. They don’t want to waste any time and possibly miss an opportunity. This we could call “old school” job search technique. It might work, but chances are that it will require a more sophisticated job search technique in the current high tech job market.

People are getting jobs, but they are not coming easily. Everything changed in 2009 when the recession struck. Hiring organizations became much more critical of candidates. They wanted to hire people who could make an impact immediately – and they wanted to make sure of their choice. In 2018 the unemployment rate is less than 3% in the Tri-Valley area, but it still takes a long time to land a good job. The hiring organizations are still picky.

Developing a strategy takes critical thinking and this may be something you have not needed to do since your college days when you set the course for your work career. It's time for a coffee and a blank sheet
of paper. Start to sketch out possibilities:

1. Stay in the same industry with a similar job?
2. Similar job in a different industry?
3. Work for a former customer or supplier?
4. Transfer skills to a parallel industry? From hardware to software?
5. Become a consultant with your expertise?
6. Expand this list …to flush out all the possibilities that you can think of.

Let’s take the case of Jerry M. His success had been in the semiconductor sales engineer, but the jobs and production have been outsourced. His industry is retrenched jobs are scarce. He has been working hard at finding a new job in this area for a long time with little success.

Jerry decided to build a strategy that calls for using his engineering and biology degrees to focus on the biotech field. He is going put his education to work by targeting bio-medical device start ups in the Bay Area. The strategic thinking that he did back in his college days is paying off as he uses his education to re-position
himself.

Small start up businesses need experienced and well educated employees; people that can hit the ground running. Employers appreciate job seekers that have a thoughtful plan and understand why they want
to work in an industry and company. It has already energized Jerry and he is developing a plan for his future.

This doesn’t mean that Jerry completely gives up on finding a new job in the semiconductor space, because he has a lot of his work life invested in this area. All this new strategy does is create a new target area and more choices for Jerry. He can envision working in a new field that is growing. It is creating hope for
a new future.