Looking for Work? Start NOW
By Kevin Donlin | April 28th, 2008
It’s human nature to put things off, like doing your taxes or visiting the dentist.
Unfortunately, most people (in my experience) lump job hunting into this “I’ll Do It Later” category.
Which may explain why most job searches are long, drawn-out, frustrating affairs that drain your bank account.
Yuck.
Here are some numbers to motivate you to start looking HARD for your next job now — today! — especially if you’re planning to graduate this spring or fear you might be getting laid off soon.
First, from Taiwan, comes this tidbit:
Last year, 80.2 percent of graduates who obtained employment within three months of graduation began their job search before graduation, according to a survey
And, from Texas Christian University:
… students need to start preparing early for the job market because it is so competitive. She acknowledged it may be a little late for those students getting ready to graduate, but for others there is still time.
Did you get that?
A) More than 80% of students in one survey who were hired within 90 days of graduation had started looking for work before the end of school.
Translation: Do NOT take the summer off to go backpacking and find yourself in Europe if you want to be working this year. Because, when you get back and start looking for jobs in earnest, the best one may be filled by other new grads with more motivation than you.
(I fell into this category back in 1988 when I graduated in a stagnant job market, took a few months off after school to goof around … and ended up working in a record store for a year. Don’t be like me.)
B) If you plan to graduate this spring and haven’t started your search yet, it may already be too late to find a good job.
That’s the bad news.
The good news?
Forget about finding jobs.
You can almost always convince employers to create a job for you, even if they think they’re fully staffed already. All you need do is create a shortlist of 20-25 companies you want to work for, get on their radar, and then “start work before the job interview.”
I describe that process in detail in my free Simple Job Search Manifesto.
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