Building a Job Search Plan - and doing it early
Today, I’m going to go through a high-level look at a job search strategy for B-School students.
The job market is really competitive for top jobs.
You need to give yourself every advantage possible to increase your chances of scoring your dream job.
Most people would be really disappointed to have spent all the time and money on B-School only to get a mediocre job that they only took because they needed something.
The sad reality is that this happens to plenty of people.
They simply attend company presentations, make a few attempts to connect with alumni, and hope for the best. While they often end up with a job, it’s usually not their dream job.
So why doesn’t everyone build a solid job search strategy?
A few reasons, actually
- Most people never really thought of it
- It takes some work, and maybe some folks don’t want to make the effort
- Most people don’t really figure out how to put it all together until near the end of their program. This is a big one and really unfortunate.
The crazy part is that having a well-thought-out job search strategy and executing it isn’t that hard.
Organization Ties It All Together
Having a system and being organized is going to save you from many of the frequent and easily solvable problems people run into. Trying to remember
- who to follow up with when
- what did you talk about
- what questions did they ask you and
- what questions did you ask them
is so much harder without an effective and organized system.
Some people use Excel and Word for this, but I strongly recommend Notion. It’s really easy to use once you get the hang of it, and it’s so powerful that it can do everything you need.
I’ve built an entire Job Search Headquarters template in Notion (Called The Job Search Organizer), so I’m a little biased.
My Job Search Organizer in the productivity app Notion. Its goal is to help you keep all of your research, notes, prep and follow-up in one easily accessible place. The feedback for this Beta Version has been great, so if you’re interested, check it out here. It’s only $30 while it’s in Beta – then it jumps in price.
The Job Search Organizer (Beta) now $30
Be a Desirable Candidate
Something people miss in the job search process is asking what they can do to help their profile. This is especially powerful if you are early in your program.
For many jobs, grades are going to matter. You don’t necessarily need to be the Gold Medalist for your class, but being in the top 10% will likely help your cause. So, figure out study skills and techniques to get higher grades.
You got into a competitive program, and you have the intellectual horsepower to get high grades. All that’s left are skills/techniques and some discipline.
I have a very inexpensive email course called 7 Days To Higher Grades…Without The Grind. In it, I highlight some evidence–based study techniques that work. Feel free to check it out at the bottom of this email.
It’s not just grades, though. As you learn more about the types of questions you’ll get asked (when did you demonstrate leadership? Tell me about a time you overcame a challenging situation), planning early can help you put yourself in situations where you have the opportunity to demonstrate your strengths.
Let’s get into the job search strategy now. It has seven general steps. If I went into detail, I could write a book about all of these, but for today, I’m going to keep it pretty high-level.
Step 1. What do you want – targeting companies
Knowing what your dream job is can help a lot if you are trying to get it.
It’s easy to get this one wrong, even though it sounds pretty simple. The reason is that there are tons of different jobs out there so do yourself a favour and spend a little time on this one.
Read, talk to people and think about what you enjoy doing and what you’re good at.
The goal at the end of this step is to figure out at least one or two jobs that you’d like to target and a bunch of companies, ideally at least 10-12, that hire for those jobs.
Step 2. Informational interviews and networking
Once you’ve got some target jobs and companies, the next step is to start building your network in those companies and jobs.
The goals here are to
· Really clearly understand what’s involved in the job (confirm you want to do it and gather info that will help later in interviews)
· Find out what’s the language people in that job use – how do they describe things
· Determine what are the key skills that will enable you to succeed in that job
But this information isn’t just floating around; you have to find a way to acquire it. That’s where informational interviews come in.
An informational interview is where you speak with someone, but there is no job prospect directly linked to it. Basically, you are “interviewing” that person.
1) For you to learn about the job & company and
2) For them to evaluate whether they want to help you get a job once the process starts
The simplest way to get informational interviews is to reach out to alums currently or recently in the jobs you want and ask them for 15 minutes of their time. Most are pretty willing to do that since people likely did it for them.
Step 3. Researching your target companies
People often go into an actual job interview without having researched the company. I genuinely don’t know if it’s because they didn’t think of it and no one told them to or because they couldn’t be bothered to put in that basic effort.
Most interviews will have a question along the lines of “why do you want to work here?”
I’ve heard a version of “I’m looking for somewhere to exchange my services for financial rewards, and this seems like as good a place as any,” surprisingly often. While this may be a reality, it’s a terrible answer!
Researching a company prepares you to answer that question but, more importantly, helps you decide whether you want to work there.
Informational interviews are part of the research, but so is your own research of reading up about them and organizing that information.
Step 4. Develop your interview skills
Interviewing is a skill. It’s a skill that can be learned and improved on.
Mysteriously, so many people leave this to chance and don’t actively cultivate this skill.
It’s baffling.
This one is probably the most time-intensive. Also, it’s the most important.
A mistake in one interview that costs you the job is understandable and happens to all of us. A series of mistakes in multiple interviews because you didn’t take the time to prep can be quite costly.
There’s lots to say on this one, but I’ll limit myself to a few bullet points on how to improve
- Record yourself in practice interviews and fix obvious flaws
- Figure out questions you might get asked and prepare for them (answers should be smooth, not memorized)
- Record yourself running through each answer 5 times with critique and analysis between each one – you’ll be shocked how much you improve
- Think about the 3-4 key messages you want the interviewer to leave knowing about you
- Watch YouTube videos and read online about how to get better at interviewing
Step 5. Show time – your interviews
It’s time to put your game face on, it’s the big day.
This is about little things—a firm handshake, looking them in the eye—and big things, like making sure you know the address and location of the interview. Get there early so you can get a feel for the place and are not scrambling at the last minute.
Try to enjoy the experience. You’ve worked hard to get here, and funny enough, the more you enjoy the experience, the more likely you are to get the job.
Step 6. After action and follow-up
Once the interview is over, there are two main things you have to do
1) Write a polite thank you note to your interviewer.
This won’t get you the job but might prevent you from being eliminated. The note should include a thank you as well as some reference to what was discussed.
It could be a reference to your plan to read a book the interviewer recommended or something you’ll get back to them about.
2) Your own after-action report
You should do this as soon as possible after the interview so things are fresh in your mind.
The idea is to make notes on
– What you did well
– What you need to improve on
– What questions they asked you
– What questions you asked them
– Any follow up required
This gives you the best chance of improving in future interviews.
Step 7. Negotiate the offer
Congratulations! They made you an offer!
Now, you have to decide whether to accept or request changes.
It’s tough to give bullet-point advice around this topic, so you may want to seek out resources from career services. You also might be well served reading the book Getting To Yes (not an affiliate link), which is one of the books most people recommend on the topic.
So that’s the strategy. If you can employ this, you’ll improve your chances of getting the job you want.
Good luck in this and don’t be shy to reply with any questions you have.
