Defining Your New Job Before You Even Start Looking

Looking for a job is not a pleasant experience. Its even worse when you do not currently have one. Money is short, unemployment benefits are never enough, but the bills keep coming in. The chances are, if you are unemployed, your spending will eat into your savings. It could be worse than this, you may have to sell some things to pay for life's basic necessities.

Unfortunately, finding a job is not a quick process. There is always a stretch from deciding you need a new job to winning a new job. And then there is typically another stretch before the first pay packet comes. The good news though is that there are a number of things you can do to speed up the process.

So lets start getting organised. The first thing you want to do is to define precisely what type of job you want. So many people miss this step, yet its so important. Not defining the job you want will mean you end up wasting all your time chasing irrelevant opportunities. You may be so busy with the irrelevant jobs that you miss the relevant ones. Further, you may actually get a job which is just bad for you.

So think about what job you are looking for. This will be different for every person, and it will be different for you every time you are looking for a job. When defining what you are looking for, there are many aspects you will need to consider. Some are trade offs, some are just personal preferences. Here are a few considerations.

Remember, you are going to spend a third of your day at work. So consider the tasks you enjoy. What have you enjoyed in previous roles, what are you good at and what industry is your career in?

What type of organisation are you looking for? Do your prefer big ones where there is lots of opportunity? Or do you prefer smaller more intimate organisations, organisations where everyone knows your first name?

Money is obviously important, how much do you expect to earn? Money isn't always everything though, do you have desirable conditions on your list for which you are willing to sacrifice income.

How fast do you need a job? Can you afford to hold out for a better offer? Can this be a short term position while you find your long term position?

What about geography? Where do you live, how close do you want the job to be? If there is a distance to travel, what modes of transport are available and does this impact your income range?

Spending an hour or so thinking about these types of factors will save you a lot of time in the long run. Rather than spending hours trawling through newspaper ads and employment websites, having defined what you want, you can be very specific with your searches.

And as you have saved your time in the search phase of the job hunt, you can use your time much more effectively preparing your applications and interviews. This will give you a much better chance of winning your ideal job over time.