Last year was challenging for many. Mass layoffs, inflation, and several other factors made people, especially job seekers, have hard times and lose focus on what matters, the search for a new and deserved job. Whatever the reason for the loss of your focus, we have decided to provide you with practical advice to help you keep focus and make the most of a job search.
From taking strategic lunch breaks to losing old beliefs, here are the 14 answers from companies’ VPs, CEOs, CMOs, Career coaches and other specialists to the question, "What are your most successful tips for job seekers to keep focus when job searching in 2023?"
- Go to Lunch With Others
- Focus Efforts on One Platform
- Get Creative
- Keep Track of the Jobs You Have Applied To
- Maintain Motivation
- Prioritize Soft Skills
- Keep an Adaptable, Open Mind
- Try Tech Detox or Spend Some Time Off the Grid.
- Search in Alignment With Your Long-Term Goals
- Ask for Referrals
- Build Personal Brand, Focus on Unmissable Opportunities
- Set Quality Control Goals for Your Efforts
- Check Your Emails Thrice Daily
- Get Rid of Old Beliefs and Habits
Go to Lunch With Others
It's easy to get distracted, or exhausted, while you're searching for a job. Make sure you take time to go to lunch with others. Spending time in person with friends or old co-workers has so many benefits: you'll hear about new job opportunities, and you'll have increased energy. While you're on the job hunt, make sure you're not just sitting at your computer or at home—go to lunch!
Logan Mallory, Vice President of Marketing, Motivosity
Focus Efforts on One Platform
As someone who has interviewed many job seekers in the last year, I am very impressed when a potential candidate shares information about how they found our open position.
Focusing one’s efforts on one platform, such as LinkedIn, for example, can be a great way to home in on prospects. It can be overwhelming with so many job boards; by narrowing down your search, you will find better focus and rhythm when applying to jobs daily.
Jonathan Zacharias, Founder, GR0
Get Creative
Intersperse tedious work with more creative tasks. For example, craft innovative cover letters or video introductions. Think outside the box.
Employers likely get bored receiving similar submissions day in and day out as well. Therefore, a little creativity just might land you a job. Break up the repetitive nature of job board scrolling with creativity and see where it leads!
Liza Kirsh, Chief Marketing Officer, Dymapak
Keep Track of the Jobs You Have Applied To
The job-hunting process can take months for some, resulting in applying to dozens or even hundreds of jobs. Applying to many jobs can also result in many letters of denial and shake a job seeker's focus and confidence.
To best keep morale up, all job seekers should keep a log of all the jobs they have applied to. Recording the company applied to, job title, and date applied alone can provide insight when receiving responses from hiring companies.
Keeping a record of all the jobs a job seeker has applied to makes it easy to determine where they are building momentum and where they are not as well as to gauge who is responding, who is not, and how long it is taking to get that response.
Job seekers that keep track of the jobs they have applied to can build focus by being able to home in on the areas where they are gaining the most momentum.
Bryor Mosley, Career Coach, Southern New Hampshire University
Maintain Motivation
You might not realize it, but hiring managers are looking for you just as hard as you're looking for a job. With popular job boards like LinkedIn launching “1-Click Apply” for job seekers, hiring managers have never received more candidates for open positions.
But here is the thing, most—as in most candidates aren't qualified. Not even close. But there are so many of them, it's hard for hiring managers to find you. Keep applying for roles that excite you, and you're qualified for—you will get noticed by the right organization, eventually.
Gordana Sretenovic, Co-Founder, Workello
Prioritize Soft Skills
Polishing your soft skills is as important as staying on top of your hard skills/technical skills. In the technology industry as well, where the demand for technical skills is quite high, recruiters are often looking for candidates who can communicate better and form a lethal combination of communication and know-how in their work.
Usually, with your job, minor soft skills like communication, presentation, and team collaboration can take candidates a long way. During problem-solving and providing the best customer experience, soft skills are highly essential and can be a make-or-break situation with clients.
With the entire world becoming a global market for remote SaaS or technical companies, job seekers who are strong in catering to clients worldwide with their strong personalities and soft skills are going to be valuable assets for companies.
Walter Lappert, CEO, Triad Drones
Keep an Adaptable, Open Mind
My best tip for job seekers in 2023 is to keep an open mind and be willing to embrace change. Technology is transforming the world of work, so employers are increasingly looking for people who can use new technologies or be creative with problem-solving.
Keeping up with these changes will be essential if you want to stay competitive in the job market. Be sure to create a strong online presence for yourself through social media and other channels. This can help you show your skills and experience to potential employers.
Erik Pham, CEO, Health Canal
Try Tech Detox or Spend Some Time Off the Grid
Spend a few hours each day disconnecting from technology to concentrate on the job search. This will entail practicing communication and interview skills, creating video resumes, and getting ready for phone interviews.
Although communication technology has brought the world to our doorstep, its abundance of features and alternatives may frequently be a source of distraction. This may overwhelm job seekers, leaving them unsure of what to do and what not to do in order to land their dream position.
Going off the grid for a while will enable job seekers to evaluate their strengths with no pretense outside of the digital world and work on developing themselves for the career they desire for themselves.
Michael Woods, Office Manager, Uniwide Formations
Search in Alignment With Your Long-Term Goals
With job searches, it’s safe to say that there are many options out there and what you settle on largely depends on what’s driving you. Although there can be many factors, if there’s one thing you need to focus on for future success, it’s your long-term goals.
With these goals at the forefront, you can filter out the jobs that don’t get you closer to these goals and focus on the ones that do.
Asma Hafejee, Sr. Marketing Executive, CMR Surgical
Ask for Referrals
The best tip for prospective job seekers to keep looking for opportunities in 2023 is through the power of referrals. Get in touch with companies you have worked with previously and ask them to endorse your skills.
This would allow you to make strides in your career and climb the corporate ladder of success. Ideally, ask for referrals from people in your industry who have worked in a similar role. This would give your prospective employer insights into what it’s like to work with you and how successful you are at managing a team.
Shaun Connell, Founder & CEO, Writing Tips Institute
Build Personal Brand, Focus on Unmissable Opportunities
The term personal branding has gained much traction in 2022. It means being your marketer and selling yourself to the companies.
To do this, first, separate yourself from the crowd to survive in the competitive job market. Then focus on building skills and experience that will give you an edge over any other individual with similar academic qualifications. Revamp your social media, make a personal website, write blogs, send out personalized newsletters, distribute original usable content, gain an audience for yourself and network more to establish your brand.
By doing this, you will be irresistible to companies who now prefer hiring employees with strong personas and magnetic digital presence. This will help you focus on your dream opportunities and make sure you don't miss any substantial offers by establishing yourself as a brand.
Sean Harris, Managing Editor, Family Destinations Guide
Set Quality Control Goals for Your Efforts
Job searching can be time-consuming, difficult, and sometimes soul-crushing. My best tip for job seekers to stay focused is to set quality control goals for their efforts. This means taking the time and vetting the companies and positions you want to apply for.
I recommend choosing three quality positions every day to apply for. Focus on customizing your resume and application for those companies. When you make those selections, take the time to research the company, reflect on what you are looking for (your ideal position), and if you could see yourself growing with that company.
When you set goals like this, it improves the quality of your applications and efforts. You also feel good about the effort you put into applying, and any responses you get will bump your excitement because you choose those companies to apply for specifically.
Job searching in 2023 is not about putting as many applications in as possible. It's about hunting for the right opportunities for yourself and your career.
William Varney, Product Strategist, Megaphone Marketing
Check Your Email Thrice Daily
It’s easy to fall into the trap of checking your email too often while you job search, hoping a recruiter has reached out. Keeping constant tabs will drive you crazy and take crucial time away from your time to apply to other roles, so limit yourself to a maximum of three email checks daily.
With a self-imposed email checking limit, you can minimize those feelings of urgency so you can focus on your job search and maintain plenty of time to unplug from it.
Maximilian Wühr, CGO & Co-Founder, FINN
Get Rid of Old Beliefs and Habits
The labor market is a rapidly changing picture, and it may take you by surprise. Expect the unexpected and get rid of old beliefs and habits. That's what I consider the most important career advice for 2023. In the long run, such an attitude leads to developing a flexible mindset and adaptability skills. These qualities are precious and in demand.
Change is a development boost, but it's only possible when we are ready to open our minds, become flexible, and replace the old with the new. Of course, it doesn't mean that we need to "bury down" all we believe in. That's certainly not the case. Still, the learning process calls for taking a balanced approach and a critical outlook.
Agata Szczepanek, Community Manager, LiveCareer
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