Part 1 of a series called Optimizing Your Job Search. In the series I hope to share the strategies and tactics I used to find three high paying exciting jobs in the past 2 years. I have solid tech skills but struggled figuring out the best way to get the job I wanted. Here is some of what I learned through trail and air.

1. Tips For Getting Started
Optimizing Your Job Search (Part I)

2. Being Honest About Your Job Search—Developing Positive Strategies
On a 3x5 not card answer the following questions.
•
I’m looking for a new career how do I feel about the situation?
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What disruptions has my current career situation caused in my life? How am I being affected?
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What are the worst possible outcomes of confronting my career situation?
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

3. Stability
Be Bold… Be Antifragile
Predictability
Randomness
Prevent Failure
Embrace Change
Resistance to Change
Rapid
Change/Flexibility
Fragile
Antifragile
Agility
The fragile wants tranquility, the antifragile grows from disorder, and the
robust doesn't care too much. --Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Think about Taleb’s “barbell” strategy. When applying for a job just: put 80% of your
efforts to careers that are safe targets. Then put the remaining 20% of your efforts into
risky or long shot career (Dream Jobs). Having a “blended” strategy can break up the
mundane exercise of applying for the same type of job over and over again and expose
you to opportunities that you may have otherwise considered out of reach. You never
know.
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

4. Being Honest About Your Job Search—Developing Positive Strategies
On reverse side of the 3x5 note card answer the following questions.
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What will the best possible outcomes for changing/finding a new job have on you family/life/career?
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What beliefs and behaviors will enable you to achieve your best possible outcomes?
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What resulting strategies and actions will foster your best possible outcomes?
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What will your future look like?
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

5. RATIONAL THOUGHT requires LOGICAL DETACHMENT.
Rationality is the state of being OBJECTIVE. In order for the reality of
being unemployed or unhappiness in a unfulfilling job to sink-in you
have to have transition out of the unemployed malaise and begin to
proactively construct a new future. It is easy to get trapped in a
“reptilian brain response” when searching for a new career, it is hard
on the ego and the stress can be hard to channel productively.
The “reptilian brain” can occasionally obstruct all job hunters. This is
why honestly answering the 3x5 notecard questions can be helpful.
The cards act to jolt the “reptilian brain” helping the transition to the
ration brain. It’s your rational mind that is going to enable you to
think creatively and devise the best career search strategy.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/06/16/how-to-by-pass-your-reptilian-brain-and-restore-your-creativepower/#sthash.VTArLMKC.dpuf
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

6. Plan
Re-plan
Resume
Job Search Flow Back Loop
Monitor
Apply
Contact
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

7. Understanding The Job Search Flow Back
Loop
• In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless,
but planning is indispensable. --Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Use the feed back loop until you successful land a job,
planning is a continuous process.
• Monitor, we learn valuable information through failure.
• Incorporate learned positive feed back into future planning.
• Learn from mistakes and rejections—REPLAN—Improve.
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

8. Resume’s:
Are For Professions
• Ensure that you resume is
formatted in such a way that they
transfer easily into on-line job sites.
• Odds of getting a Interview
increase from 1/25 to 1/3 when a
resume is professionally written.
• Some services will rewrite your
resume until you land a job.
• Keywords !!!
• Adds professional feel to your
LinkedIn profile.
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury

9. Leveraging LinkedIn
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Get the most out of the Profile page.
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Contribute to Groups
•
Use InMail
More next week…Thank you.
© 2013-2014 Richard Bradbury