Your job search can be more productive if you follow the “Eight Is Enough” rules, named after the old TV sitcom. They provide excellent goals, limits, and discipline for a successful job search.
Let’s Start Your Job Search with Why Anyone Should Care about Hiring You.
8 Words Is Enough for Your Theme.
You should be able to communicate your hook in no more than eight words. This forces you to decide why your target audience will find you of interest and worth considering.
As a bonus, this fits nicely on a business card.
Now, Let’s Focus on How to Get this Job Search Message Out to the Right People.
8 People Who Will Help You Get Hired.
These are your mentors, sponsors, and enthusiasts. They know your contributions, like and respect you, and are happy to work to help you. They have a lot of roles in your job search campaign, and no one person does everything.
- Cheerleader
- Disciplinarian
- Networker/connector
- Coach
- Reference
- Job lead source
Having a monthly conversation is the right frequency to keep you top of mind, receive value and not take too much of their time. Remember to give as much value as you receive or you’ll deplete your resources.
8 Target Category Subsegments.
Each word in this heading is important.
- Eight is the limit. I recommend starting with three and then expanding the breadth of your search by adding one more subsegment each month based on the feedback you receive.
- Target describes where your skills will be understood and desired and you believe you’ll be successful.
- Category is an umbrella word for appealing industries but too large to focus on.
- Subsegments are the smaller subdivisions within these categories that you fit best.
8 Personal Contacts per Day with People Who Can Help You Get Hired.
These are conversations in person or via the phone or Skype with a combination of important contacts that you’ve targeted, more general networking personalities, recruiters and your core supporters. Admittedly, this is a stretch goal.
8 Outreaches to New People Each Day.
These are people you’ve decided to target probably because they work in the desirable subsegments or are respected networkers and recruiters.
The outreach efforts can be via phone, email, IM, Facebook, LinkedIn and mail. The key is to select your target and then reach out with effective content.
8 Social Media Communications Daily.
Blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter… Just send eight appropriate messages per day that are helpful and show that you’re an up-to-date expert in your field. Most of these can be carefully selected links that also help you stay current.
Finally, Here Are Your Job Search Goals.
8 Relevant New Job Leads per Week
Finding job leads isn’t difficult, even for very good jobs that you’d love to have. The key word is “relevant.” It’s forces you to focus most of your efforts on jobs which, even if a bit of a stretch and a promotion, you have the background to demonstrate that you can do very well.
8 Active Job Campaigns – Always
If everything above is working, the objective is for you to be considered for eight jobs concurrently. This may sound like a lot, and it certainly is a high number only active candidates can reach.
Regardless, if you do the math including the length of the typical search process (usually several months for executives), this goal is necessary as you go through the recruiting funnel.
The goal is to end up with two job offers to select from…but that’s another number and blog.
If you execute the “Eight Is Enough” approach, you have the specifics to judge your activities and progress which can propel you to a new job.