You finally did it: you decided to look for a new job.
First, congratulations. Making the decision to look for a new job is a difficult one for pretty much everyone. After all, you are taking a risk to put yourself out there and look for something new.
Unfortunately, most people do the exact wrong thing after they make the decision to look for a new job. They update their resume.
Why is that wrong? Because you have no idea what you want to do or, more importantly, why you want to do it. As a result, your job search will be scattered, your resume and cover letters will be unfocused, and you will get ignored by recruiters time and time again.
What should you do instead? Start with the end in mind.
Before you update your resume or submit any applications, you must first do some deep introspection to determine exactly what you want to do next and why. Only then should you focus on tactical details (i.e., updating your resume).
By starting with resume updates, you limit your thinking to only what is on your mind right now—getting the hell out of your current job—and not on the end goal: to have a fulfilling career. Even if you hate your job, you need to take a step back and think about the big picture before you take action. At the end of the day, taking a step back will help you take several steps forward, finding your next job faster than if you simply applied to 200 random job openings.
“Then, what should I do first?”
Start by asking yourself a series of questions about your current, next, and “next next” job. In other words, ask yourself where you are, where you want to be, and where you want to be after that. Now, is not the time for wishful thinking. You must be 100% honest with yourself about where you are and where you want to go.
Sometimes, it’s good to ask yourself, “Who do I want to help? What problems do I want to solve? Why do I want to solve them?” The answers to those questions can be incredibly instructive.
You see, the world is full of problems. Everybody knows that. They key to a fulfilling career is to tackle the problems that have meaning to you.
For example, if you want to help poor people in third-world nations develop farms to grow food, then you might want to apply for a job with the Peace Corps. If, however, you want to help Fortune 500 companies increase revenues and decrease expenses to grow profits by 10%, then you may want to apply for a job as a management consultant.
Neither of those jobs is better or worse than the other. They simply tackle different problems.
So focus first on the problems that you want to solve and then back into where you are right now. Once you know your start point and your end point, you can create a plan to get from here to there.
Who do you want to help? What problems do you want to solve? Why do you want to solve them? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
What if you want to save the world in all areas, foreign and domestic? “Just keep swimming???”
That’s a good place to start, but it needs to be narrowed down. HOW do you want to save the world? WHERE do you want to save the world? WHAT world problems do you want to solve? Asking those questions will help you find your niche, your personal career positioning.