Stress-Free Career Change: Secure Your Dream Job in Less Time
Whether you’re going a totally new direction professionally or just looking for a new organization, making a career change is never easy. Finding the right job takes time, time you often don’t have when you’re busy working.
When you don’t have time to dedicate to your search, you can quickly find yourself stuck in a role that isn’t fulfilling and drains your energy. How in the world are you supposed to find more energy to fill out job apps when your work day burns you out?
Your time is precious. Which is why it is essential to be as efficient and effective with your job search as possible (work smarter not harder!). Today we’re going to tackle the practical steps to a low-stress high-reward job search, based on the process I followed in my own career change this year. If you’re considering a major change or total career shift, I also highly recommend this guide from Life Kit.
Determine What Needs to Change
Before you even start your job search, create space to thoughtfully and thoroughly reflect on what you want (and don’t want) in your next position. When you make a change, you want to be sure it’s the right one.
Some questions to ask when you’re considering a job change:
- What tasks/projects energize me? These are often the things that you dive into when you first open your computer for the work day.
- What activities do I always put off? We tend to procrastinate tasks we don’t enjoy.
- What are my top three sources of stress at work? The people? The hours? Poor management?
- What would my ideal work schedule look like? Think about how you want your work to fit into your life.
- What do I want my professional life to look like in five years? Make sure your next job moves you in that direction.
Be Picky
Once you know what you enjoy about your work and what areas you’d like to change, you need to make a list of your “must haves” and hold yourself to them. Again, making a change to a different job that is equally stressful or unfulfilling is not a long-term solution to your professional challenges. Being picky will keep you from spending time applying for jobs that you don’t actually want (what a waste of your precious time!).
For example, my new position/organization had to:
- Give me the opportunity to affect company culture and promote wellbeing in the workplace.
- Offer the potential to grow and develop my skillset while also trusting me to lead and make decisions.
- Allow me to focus on one brand and mission (aka no more agency work for me!).
- Be a step up professionally and pay me accordingly.
- Offer me more balance and more control over my schedule.
Use Your Network
According to the Jobvite 2021 Recruiter Nation Report, employee referral programs are on the rise and CareerBuilder has reported 82% of employers rated employee referral as the best way to get ROI. Personally, I’ve gotten most of my job interviews through some sort of personal connection. This is especially helpful if you want a role at a large company that uses A.I. to sort through initial candidates. A personal introduction can provide a crucial foot in the door.
Start your job search by engaging the people you already know and don’t limit yourself to people in your industry. Even if someone can’t help you directly, they likely know someone who can. And people are almost always happy to make an introduction. Your quickest, easiest path to a job is an introduction or a direct referral that can get you past the resume-sending void and into a conversation with a real person.
Keep a Master List for Resumes
You’re going to change or tweak your resume for every job application. Make your life easier by keeping a master document with the different versions of your responsibilities and accomplishments. Categorize them by the type of role to which they apply. This will make it easy to splice the most relevant content into your various applications.
If the idea of a master list overwhelms you, just be sure to save each version of your resume so you can easily go back. I literally have 15+ versions of my resume save in Canva and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to incorporate old bullet points into a new version.
Sign Up for Job Boards
Whether it’s an industry-specific job board or your basic job search engine, make sure to sign up to get digests emailed to you. That way all you have to do is scan the email each day to see if there are any interesting openings. I signed up for Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn emails based on my customized searches and only had to spend 5-10 minutes total each day identifying roles for which to apply.
Remember Your Worth
When you’re interviewing for a job, remember the organization is auditioning for you as much as you’re auditioning for them. The power is in your hands. They should demonstrate that they will value you appropriately for your expertise. Ask the hard questions. Interviews are your opportunity to determine if the job is the right fit for you. You will never have more negotiating power than you have during the interview process.
Take a Break
Congrats! You crafted the perfect resume, got the right introduction, nailed your interview, negotiated a competitive salary, and are going to start that new dream job. Now take a break. Give yourself at least a small break between roles, even if it’s just using your PTO payout to take a week off. Burnout is a real threat to your health and giving yourself a little time to rest with no work responsibilities hanging over your head can set you up to be renewed and energized for your new role.
I was incredibly fortunate to be able to take time off after my last job. The truth is, I was burned out and I needed time to recover. I knew I needed to separate myself from the stress of my job in order to clearly see what direction I wanted to go next. Committing myself first to self reflection and recovery put me in the right position to identify the right jobs for which to apply. It also gave me the energy and motivation I needed to be successful as I now jump into my new role.
I know this is not an option for everyone. We often need to search for new jobs while working hard in our current position. But I truly believe ending one job on Friday and starting the next one on Monday is detrimental to your wellbeing and overall effectiveness in your new role.
Celebrate Your Success
Finding a new job that is the right fit is not easy and won’t happen overnight but following this process can help you ensure the time and energy you spend searching yields a positive return. All the hard work will be worth it once you’re settling into your rewarding career.
