If you’ve had to navigate a tough job search or unexpected layoff, you might be feeling incredibly motivated to keep yourself job-search ready in a future role. When I ask my clients what could have made landing a new job easier (outside of more job openings and fewer applicants!), here is what they usually say:
1) They wish they’d kept their resumes updated with metrics.
I recommend making time to update your resume quarterly. In addition to updating your resume, keep a running list of your goals at work and how you’re tracking towards them. Beyond supporting your resume updates, this document will help you prepare for performance reviews and salary negotiations.
2) They wish they’d kept a folder of important work artifacts (that could be shared externally) to be used in future interviews.
Based on the kind of work you do (scope and function), keep examples of relevant work readily accessible should it be requested in a future interview. These kinds of artifacts could be proposals, project and strategic plans, communications you’ve written, agendas for meetings and convenings, trainings or curriculum you’ve designed, etc.
3) They wish they’d kept in better touch with their networks, like past managers and colleagues.
It’s pretty awkward to hit up an old manager or colleague for a reference or referral when you haven’t kept in touch for years. If there are people you’ve worked with closely in your past job, reach out and let them know how much you’d love to keep in touch now that you’re at different organizations and set up a 30-minute catch-up meeting for once or twice a year. If a phone call or coffee date isn’t your thing, email catch-ups count too!
4) They wish they’d updated their LinkedIn profile and made the occasional post about the cool things they were working on or learning.
For many of my clients, the only things they’ve ever posted on LinkedIn are the announcement that they’re looking for a new job or starting a new job. They also only update their profiles when they’re looking for a job or starting a job, making future updates take a very long time. You don’t have to become a content creator to maximize LinkedIn, but do consider ways to create some visibility for yourself on the platform. This can include commenting on people’s posts in your network or shouting out something cool you or your team are working on. You can also share open roles at your organization and also from your broader network (I love these kinds of posts - they can lead to new opportunities for lots of people!).
5)They wish they’d kept an eye on open roles even when they weren’t looking, just to know who was hiring and what skills were in demand.
Staying job-search ready includes knowing the kinds of jobs that are available. When you have a sense of who is hiring and the kinds of roles on the market, you can position yourself in a more strategic way.
