Designing, constructing, and launching a multifaceted job search campaign is crucial to a candidate's job search success. How do you strategically design a campaign that delivers?

By crafting an action plan to guide and track action plan activities. While integrating job search mechanics like resume development, marketing, interview preparation, offer negotiation, etc. are important, your ability to build and maintain campaign momentum is equally critical to landing your ideal role.
 
A well-designed action plan lays out the campaign activities you will complete in a given day, week, month, or year while also offering a roadmap candidate can evaluate to track campaign activity and make any modifications necessary for success. An accountability partner like a family member, friend, career development practitioner, or career coach can offer the support you need to achieve your goals - whether they be landing your ideal job or being selected for promotion.
 
To learn more about developing and executing an action plan that delivers results, please schedule a complementary discovery session with one of our certified career development practitioners or transition specialists. You may also visit the Help Center, call 866.827.7302, email us, or use the "Feedback & Support" link located on bottom right side of the page. We also invite you to continue the conversation by sharing your suggestions for advancing in the selection process by adding a comment below.

14%-18% of hires are made from job board postings with only 1 in 219 online applicants are hired (compare that to the 1 in 10 personal referrals that are hired!). With this in mind, I encourage candidates to network and follow up after submitting an online application to increase your chances of standing out from your competition.

ACTION ITEM
Before you apply, look for contacts in the target company using LinkedIn to see if you know anyone who could connect you to the hiring manager or other hiring team member. For those without a direct organization contact, follow up by reaching out to the recruiter and/or the hiring manager via LinkedIn or email.

How to distinguish yourself from competitors who apply for the same published job lead?
Don’t wait until an open position is posted to apply because recruiters begin looking for candidates before positions are officially posted. Register and post your resume on all of your target companies’ career pages. This step will ensure your resume is uploaded to each of their Applicant Tracking Systems and available in their database when they search for qualified candidates. Be sure to regularly refresh your resume with additional skills and trainings as accumulated.

How to answer the salary question on applications?
Online applications may ask for your salary requirements or salary history so I offer three options for your consideration:
Option 1 When at all possible, leave this blank, enter "negotiable" or "will discuss."
Option 2 If the application requires a number, give exactly as asked. Provide your salary history and enter your expected salary (or if allowed, a range).
Option 3 The riskiest option, is listing your (researched) target salary in every salary box (or a range if the system permits). Then, in the first open text box enter: “all salary figures reported reflect my current salary target" to address confirms related to dishonesty. However, decision makers may not appreciate this approach.

How to answer essay questions on an online application?
Determine how many characters or words you can work with. If the word limit is not easily found, simply paste several paragraphs of text into the box to identify where the text cuts off. Write your response in Microsoft Word and proofread your work before pasting it into the application. Your communication skills will be evaluated as a part of the selection process.

Should I apply for more than one job at a particular company?
Applying for more than one position within an organization may not make a great first impression try to gain more information before
submitting your resume. One way to determine next steps is to reach out to network contacts or company recruiters to learn more about
the role's job duties and status.

To brainstorm strategies to support application submissions, please schedule a complementary discovery session with one of our certified career development practitioners or transition specialists. You may also visit the Help Center, call 866.827.7302, email us, or use the "Feedback & Support" link located on bottom right side of the page. We also invite you to continue the conversation by sharing your suggestions for advancing in the selection process by adding a comment below.