Is job search a project with a beginning and an end?

When does your job search begin?

Does it end when you find a job?

What is the Life Expectancy of Your Job?

With the current challenges of global economic transition, executive jobs have an average life expectancy of less than 3 years. Employees are now viewed as a variable cost. They remain on the books only as long as they continue to add to the bottom line. No job is safe. Case in point: Last week I had lunch with an friend who has just become available as a consultant: A c-suite executive who was with a company for five short years – short compared with the track record of over twenty years in a previous company.

Look at the profiles of your professional connections in LinkedIn. Do you see a pattern of shortened timeframes within successive jobs?

I’ve heard this advice from job seekers who’ve recently found a new job: "I’m going to maintain my job search connections and website memberships for a few more months until I know my new job is the right one." Which poses the question: Is job search a project with a beginning and an end?

Should Job Search be a Long-Term Strategy? 

In order to manage your position in the executive job market, now and into the unforeseeable future, would it make more sense to have a long-term strategy? Even if you are currently employed, a good insurance plan would be to always be set up for the next opportunity.

Could You Position Yourself as a Strategic ‘Passive Candidate’?

With it’s growing popularity and membership, LinkedIn has become a preferred source for recruiters to find passive candidates. Passive candidates are attractive to recruiters for a number of reasons that rightly or wrongly justify perception of ‘higher quality’. However there are disadvantages to recruiters pursuing passive candidates not least of which are candidates with higher demands, who are more likely to back out at the last minute.

Could you position yourself as a strategic ‘Passive Candidate’? One who is actively marketing their unique value. Not actively seeking an immediate position, but obviously up to date with the latest trends in the talent market, and active in their industry circles. You would be a most attractive candidate for a recruiter realizing that  given the right opportunity, the strategic candidate is more likely to make a move than a passive one.

How do you Differentiate Yourself as Being Available for the Right Opportunity? 

Being able to stand out from the crowd in LinkedIn is a definite advantage in your Career Management Strategy. There are a number of ways you can communicate your brand and value proposition through LinkedIn:

• Post your branded message regularly in the "What are You Working On?" box
• Fill out your Profile completely, giving your resume a "Guerilla" overhaul
• Brand yourself in your Summary and use keywords that will get your target employers’ attention
• Network through targeted groups
• Participate in LinkedIn Answers

Develop and Execute an Ongoing Job Search Strategy

LinkedIn serves one prong in what could be a multi-pronged job search campaign. And it’s a resource that is becoming more competitive as it becomes more popular. 

In a previous post we discussed LinkedIn’s Appeal, What’s Next? 

It’s not only recruiters who are looking for talent. Company executives are searching the internet for innovative solutions to their problems as well as researching their competitors.

Why start your job search campaign at the bottom of the recruiting chain when you can target your unique value proposition at the c-suite and shorten your route to a job offer?

It’s the social media links that are coming up at the top of the organic search. Herein lies a key to your career management strategy. If you know how, you can be found.