How to plan your job search
by CK Group
Before you even think about diving straight in and starting your search for your next job in science, it's important that you have a plan of action. By planning your job search, you will be in the most productive mind-set and will remain focussed what ever challenges you face along the way.
To help you effectively plan your job search, CK Science have put together some guidelines to help you think more strategically about your job hunt. Set realistic and achievable goals. Obviously, the goal of your job hunt is to land your perfect job in science. But you need to get down to the nitty gritty.
Have a think about:
- What kind of job do you want?
- Do you want to stay in the same role and work in the same industry?
- Do you want to stay in the same role, but work in a different industry?
- Are you looking for a complete change in career?
- What type of company do you want to work for?
- Where do you want to be based?
- What kind of salary are you looking for?
- Do you want to work full time or part-time?
- Are you looking for a permanent or temporary science job?
- How long are you willing to commute?
- How are you thinking of commuting?
- Do you want to do any more training or complete further qualifications?
- What do you see yourself doing in five years time?
Once you have answered each of these questions you should have a clear idea in your head of exactly what you are looking for. This will also help the Scientific Recruitment Consultants here at CK Science to help you find a position more quickly.
Determine your job hunting tools. There are many different tools out there to help you land your next job in science. Some may work better for you than others, so it may best to concentrate on 2-3 of the following methods to help ensure you stay focused throughout your job hunt:
Specialist scientific recruitment agencies such as CK Science Job boards such as
- Access-Science Jobs
- Company careers pages
- News paper advertisements
- Industry specific publications
Have a schedule. You never can tell how long your job hunt will take, however you can set yourself deadlines for certain important milestones. Some you might want to consider are:
- I will have written my CV, spell checked and checked again within 3 days.
- I will have created by job hunting spreadsheet within one week. See below for more details.
- I will have registered with at least three specialist scientific recruitment agencies within 1 week.
- I will have had 5 telephone interviews within three weeks
- I will have had 2 face-to-face interviews within 1 month
Put together a job hunting spread sheet It might sound geeky but it can be effective to put together a job hunting spread sheet to help you track the progress and success of your job applications. We recommend you record things like:
- Number of applications made
- Number of responses received
- How many interviews attended
- How many scientific recruitment agencies registered with
- How many networking events you have attended
- Review the success of your job hunt
If your job hunt isn't exactly going the way you had planned, it is important that you take a step back and analyse what's gone wrong:
- Have you tailored your CV to each job application?
- Have you prepared fully for your interviews?
- Are you dressing appropriately for your interviews?
- Were you late to an interview?
- Could you have made a bad first impression?
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