Since my lay off is still fresh on my mind, I'll share my job hunting pointers. Job hunting has changed a bit since the last time I did it. Here's some suggestions that generated a lot of leads and interest...
1. Assess your skills and value. Chances are, if you lost your job, you are feeling incredibly down on yourself. Even though the company doesn't take it personally, you do! You can't help it. Sit back and think about your skills. What do you know? Think about both hard and soft skills. Chances are you are a much better person and employee than was realized by your former company. Unless your former company used a stone tablet or a Wang word processor (I'm dating myself with that one) as a tech writing tool, "you got skills"! Capitalize on them... Be proud of them and of yourself. Don't let the man get you down!
2. Email everyone you know and let them know what happened. Let them know that you are on the job market again. Even if you haven't talked to them in a while, it would be a nice way to catch up. People who know you know that you are an awesome and talented person. You never know who knows someone who is hiring or perhaps even hiring at their company. I received many leads by doing this. Disclaimer: If you are known as the "Sean Penn of Programming" and you are proud of it, you may want to skip this step. Or you may want to be more choosy about your email recipient list.
3. Update your resume on LinkedIn and link to as many current and former colleagues as you know. I found my new job posted on LinkedIn. Also, ask some of those colleagues to post recommendations on LinkedIn and you return the favor (cuz you never know when they might be on the chopping block and could use recommendations). Take advantage of the website's job search capability. LinkedIn shows you if you know of someone (or someone who knows someone) at the potential company. It might be a great way to network and have an "in".
4. Also, change your status (left nav bar of your profile) on LinkedIn to something like "Getting laid off. Looking for a new opportunity." People will see that in their LinkedIn email updates. I did that and was surprised by the number of folks that noticed that little tidbit. I received several leads that way.
5. Look on Craigslist for job postings. Craigslist is the new "Monster". So many companies are using it for their recruiting efforts. It's not your traditional method but these are not "traditional" times.
6. Update your resume on Monster (and any other job search websites). I received a number of calls from recruiters noticing my resume on Monster. I was surprised actually. I thought the monster was dead but I was wrong. Tons of interest came from Monster.
7. Indeed.com. This site pulls tons of job posting from websites I've never heard of!
8. Organization websites. For example, if you are a technical writer, check out your local STC chapter's website. If you are a program manager, check out PMI's site. Check out the organization's main website and do a search on jobs in "the state you've always wanted to live in but haven't taken the plunge yet because you are afraid to put yourself out there". Put yourself out there. If you don't do it now, when will you do it?
My new job was posted on Craigslist and LinkedIn. And honestly, I would never have thought to look in either place several years ago. But lay offs are becoming more common and in order to get noticed, you might have to change your job search strategy a little bit. Try to step outside the box. If you are searching for a job, I hope some of these pointers work for you. Being unemployed sucks, but know that you aren't alone. And remember... you have value. Now go sell it to someone! :-)
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