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The number of long-term unemployed is at its highest rate since 1948. Several job seekers are conducting a full-time job search but have not experienced much success. To keep hope alive, I encourage you to conduct your career guide job search as a problem solving consultant.

Reach out to Subject Matter Experts

I recommend you reach out to career experts who have helped job seekers land jobs during the Great Recession. Acquire best practice information regarding job lead generation and interviewing. Also learn how these previous job seekers maintained a positive mental attitude through both the ups and downs of their career guide job search.

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Next locate job seekers you know who recently landed. Ask probing questions to get the detailed step-by-step blueprints they used to generate job leads and interviews. Also ask these individuals how they stayed motivated and landed their positions even when they had doubts.

If you are currently stuck in your job search, share your potential solutions with these individuals and ask for their feedback. Also ask them for additional, potential solutions. You could also seek advice by asking additional career experts a question during the Tuesday night Career Factory shows.

Scope Out Your Job Search Plan

Now you should have several strategies you can use to locate suitable job leads. The more job leads you can generate, the more potential interviews you can participate in. Next, prioritize these strategies by ease of implementation and impact. For example, networking for job leads is more difficult to implement relative to searching online job boards. However, networking may have a greater impact of helping you uncover job leads with less competition relative to online job listings. Use a 2X2 matrix (to graph the results) or use your judgment to determine the job search activities you should spend the most time on.

Implement and Make Adjustments

Next implement your job search strategies and measure the results in regards to generating suitable, job leads and responses from potential employers (including phone screens and face-to-face interviews). Determine what is working and what is not working. For the job search strategies that are not working, conduct an honest assessment to identify the reasons why. Develop alternative approaches, share them with your subject matter experts, seek feedback, make changes, and move forward by taking another shot.

The job seekers I know who landed during the Great Recession did not view failure as an option and continued their search even when things were not going their way. They sought advice from others, made adjustments, and eventually acquired jobs.

The knowledge of a crowd is richer than the knowledge of a few individuals. So get engaged in JobRadioUSA’s online career community and encourage others to do the same.

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