Having worked in Talent Acquisition for over 7 years, the most common question that I get asked is “Morgan, how do I find my dream job?” The answer is not a simple one, but the strategy that you can design is.
The common human misconception is that people think that the dream role will just come to them. It’s like thinking you are going to win a major in golf without ever practising your swing.
The default job hunting strategy
90% of the people I speak to, do a mixture of the following when it comes to their job-hunting strategy:
● Wait for a head hunter, like me, to call them
● Reach out to their network
●Sign up for job alerts on platforms such as Linkedin, Glassdoor and Indeed, then randomly apply for a whole bunch of roles and wait for the phone to ring. And if the phone doesn’t ring you rightly feel rejected.
The Job Hunt Strategy I Swear By
So, what would you really do in order to find your dream role?
1. Build your Personal Business Development List
The first thing is simple. Start with extensive desk research and set yourself a target of identifying 4 to 5 industry verticals that interest you. Then deep dive into each vertical and set yourself a target of writing down 10 companies within each industry.
By the end of this exercise you will have at least 50 companies, let’s call it your personal business development list. Common mistakes I see people make with their list is they only go for the well-known brands and forget about the start-ups and challenger brands.
2. Find a Key Contact For Your Dream Company
This is where qualitative research starts. Go over your list and see who you know in each of these companies. This could be an old college friend, an old colleague, a family member or even a friend. They may not even work there now, but the point of the exercise is to:
- Find out all you can about the company, the culture, how they hire and if in fact, it is a good place to work
- See who can provide a warm intro to someone working in the company. Keep it casual, with a coffee or lunch.
To Conclude
So, if this simple strategy makes sense to you, and you have a few hours a week to put aside, ask yourself what is stopping you to start the journey of finding your own dream job right now?
I have made it ever easier for you, so you have no excuses! I have created a downloadable excel sheet (See below) that maps out all the information you need to find. I hope you find this helpful!
If you need help plotting your journey yourself the good folk here at TalentHub would only be delighted to help. Get in touch today!
Author:
Morgan Cummins
Director of Recruitment & Coaching
