Unlocking Career Success: Modify Your Job Search Strategy

When we're experiencing difficult market conditions, employment conditions, when the economy is not firing on all four cylinders, you absolutely have to modify your job search strategy to uncover the right opportunities and to deliver results. First and foremost, you must modify the strategy now to deal with the new current paradigm, which in my opinion is extremely challenging. There's a lot of corporate restructuring going on. There is a lot more unemployment than is being recognised. And particularly in mid to senior levels, we know that it's taking a lot longer to secure roles. And so the key is you must modify the search strategy. And the number one thing you have to do is you have to tap into the unadvertised job market. So that means not looking at the ads that are popping up on Seek and LinkedIn, because what you'll find with those roles are you are up against so many candidates, it's really hard to stand out of the crowd and to secure an actual meeting. And the strike rate on that side of the equation is extremely low. So it's absolutely imperative that you are talking to your business network, you're reaching out to your network, you're telling your network you need help. Do not think there is any shame or embarrassment in looking for employment. And it's really crucial that you make it known early on that you are looking for a new role. Now you can do this on LinkedIn, you can do it through your private business networks, you can ask people to help. And you will be pleasantly surprised because people will go out of their way to help top talent find a new home. And that's where all those years of building up that kudos, that cache with those business network contacts of yours are going to come into full fruition, hopefully, because they're going to be very helpful to you at this time. So you must tap into the unadvertised market, you must go direct to employers. And at the same time, you can't fully ignore the corporate headhunters. Because what happens when companies are releasing talent to the market, they can't be sort of on the one hand, making 1000 people redundant. And then on the other hand, recruiting on SQL LinkedIn at the same time, that creates an incredibly challenging market perception and challenges when they're sort of trying to outplace executives. So what they do is they engage the corporate headhunters. So when the market is really tanking, and there's a lot of corporate restructuring going on, the executive search firms actually become very busy. And we know right now they're extremely busy with a lot of roles. Now they will not take, you know, kindly to a lot of nonstop contact, they will not be able to do career mentoring sessions with you, they will only speak with you, they will only engage if they have a suitable brief on their desk. So it is important to make sure you are registered with the top search firms that you are on their databases. And you're using your LinkedIn profile to stay top of mind, particularly with the headhunter researchers. The researchers are incredibly powerful in these firms, because they're actually the people who recommend the long list, if you like, for the search consultant to actually vet and ascertain who's going to go on to the short list. So the researcher in the firm, like the Cord Ferries of the world are extremely valuable to you. And you want to try and map out who those researchers are on LinkedIn. And you want to be on their radar. So you know, you've got to really modify this search strategy over the next few months. And in my opinion, you're going to have to do a lot more effort than you've ever done before to maybe get one single job offer. We have clients at the moment that have done 400 outbound reach inquiries and they're good quality executives. But that's just the nature of the market at the moment. There's a lot more kissing the frogs to try and find the primps at the moment. So it is challenging, but there is always a home for good talent. Okay, so even in the darkest of days, even when the economy is tanking, even when everything's going wrong, good people always find work. Okay, so you must employ the right search strategy. Now, you must have a bit of a sales mindset. It's a little bit of a numbers game at the moment. But if you have enough meaningful conversations with key decision makers, you will eventually be offered employment. So it's really crucial that you get your skates on, your hustle on. It is the people who are going to really thrive in this market are the people who are really going to go all out to find their next role in the market. And you know, there's always a silver lining. So if you're having troubles, get into my diary, love to assist. You know, let's have a look at the strategy today and what it needs to be to ensure you've got new employment by Christmas so that you walk into 2025 with that confidence that you know what you're going to be doing in the future.