In part one of how to land your ideal job I showed the steps to prepare a vision board. The vision board is used to help you clarify what you are looking for in a job. This encompasses elements such as recognizing your expertise and what you really enjoy working on. It covers the type of company you want to work for and the people you want to work with. I suggest consulting that article and video along with reading this one.
Research
The next step is to research potential companies that meet your criteria for an ideal job. This should be clear if you have gone through part one and created your vision board, which engages your emotional and instinctive intelligences. This makes you like a magnet that is attracting opportunities for landing your ideal job and for connecting with people who can help you.
A good place to start is LinkedIn as most companies and employees have a profile there. You can see if they are hiring and what types of jobs they have posted. Job postings can be a good way to get a sense of the companies’ values, as often they will be expressed in the job posting or on their company age. You can then dive deeper by looking at their other web presences. Perhaps they ae hosting webinars or attending trade shows where you can go and meet people working there.
Indeed, is another good source to learn about jobs in certain companies and see how current and past employees rate them. Indeed has a very good database and search function to find information about jobs and companies in specific geographical regions.
People
Part of your research should be to find people working at specific companies you target through your investigation. These people can be a resource especially if you are looking to make a transition to a new career or become specialized in the field you are familiar with.
Twitter can be a great way to follow and connect with people you want to meet or learn from, and see what concerns them. This way if you decide to approach them you will know what interests them and how you can capture their interest.
Connect
Once you have done your research on potential employers and people working there it is time to make connections. The goal is to build a relationship so you can learn from them and ask for their help. It could also be a director or manager that might need your expertise in their functional area.
You can use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media sites to connect with resources. A LinkedIn professional subscription could be a worthwhile investment for this, but it is not essential.
Sell Yourself
Once you are ready to approach the company for a job you want to be prepared. If there is a job opening that interests you and meets with your ideal job criteria, you want to be able to demonstrate what added value you can bring that will make you standout as an applicant.
Many jobs never get posted but are filled through personal connections and word of mouth. So, when connecting with people working at a potential employer, try and find out about the challenges they are facing in the specific department. Think of what you can bring to help them address these challenges and then you can approach the hiring manager to sell yourself and how you can help him/her. This requires forethought and confidence in yourself. That’s why investing in ongoing learning and personal development is so important as it builds your skill set and belief in your abilities.
Example
Let’s suppose you are a design animator capable of both 2D and 3D designs. You really love animating in 3D and enjoy showing how mechanical machines function by animating them in 3D. You know the demand for these skills are growing but you had bad experiences working for companies who you feel did not treat you well and appreciate your contribution. You know the level you want to function at is a stretch, but you are getting better and know you can make the leap.
You look on LinkedIn and find three companies in the field you are targeting, and they are hiring but you do not meet all the criteria posted. You find people working there on LinkedIn and there are two who you have 2nd degree connections with. You can ask your first degree connection to make an introduction for you and when they accept start a conversation. Tell them you would like to know more about what they do as you are looking to grow your skills and you see they have more advanced skills. Essentially you are asking for their help.
An approach could look like this. Hello John, we have a mutual connection Brian Jones who I know from college. I would like to connect with you and learn more about what you do. Once the person accepts your invitation you can then say, thanks for accepting my invitation, John. I know you must be very busy but can we schedule a short call so I can ask you some questions about the type of work you do to help me in my career development?
Obviously, you want to word your approach in a way you feel comfortable with. The idea is to start building a relationship and trust so the person can act a guide or mentor. Once there is a good comfort level, you can explore having them connect you with a manager or director at their firm.
The above example and suggestions are things that most people will not do. By taking an approach that only highly motivated people will do sets you apart from the crowd. It shows you know what you want and are willing to go the extra mile to get it. To have an exceptional life takes courage and extraordinary action, but why settle for less. Life is short so go for what will make you happiest.