30-Day Plan to Crank Up your Sustainability Job Search in the New Year

With 2014 upon us it is a great time to make not only a list of personal resolutions like do more yoga, donate more to a charity and eat less red meat, but also, to finally treat yourself to that new job you have been dreaming about. The only way to make it happen is to get organised and make a specific plan!

Here is my 30-day plan to help you crank up your job search…

Week 1: Soul searching

Spend some time figuring out who you really are and what you really want in your dream job. It is important to map out what your key skills are, what day-to-day tasks you love doing, and what you are truly passionate about. Next you need to think about the context and culture that you would best fit into – i.e. mapping your values and traits so that they align to the management and culture of the next organisation you target.

Week 2: Dive into the web

Once you know what you offer the market and what your priorities are you can start your job search on the web. Focus on only a few job boards that you find really are posting roles that fit your “dream job” criteria and are looking for qualifications that you offer.

Week 3: Package it up

You won’t be able to move forward in applying for jobs or networking without an innovative CV. Rather than just tidying up an old CV, I recommend starting from scratch. A new clean format which is easy to read and capture key messages in just 40 seconds will make a big difference. No need to set yourself apart with fancy formatting as it will distract the hiring manager from answering the question “can you do the job”? If you are making a career change then it will be even more important to tell your story concisely with only relevant roles on the CV and to translate your skills and accomplishments into the reader’s language.

Week 4: Reach out

Once that CV is telling a tight and relevant story of how you are worth more than your competition, you should start to reach out to anyone and everyone you know. Remember, you only really need ONE person to link you to that ONE job. Start by building a a mini-database of everyone you know who may be able to link you to your next job. Use Facebook, LinkedIn, your industry group memberships, your university alumni networks, etc. Keep track of who responds and what your next steps are for each person. Instead of asking your contacts for help with your job search directly, ask them for a coffee–but to just tell them what you are looking for and see if they may have any ideas or can put you in contact with anyone else they know.

This article originally appeared on Acre