I wrote this as the lead in to a live event. You can use it now as a lead in to call me.

I'm excited about your job search. I know that when done right, you'll have the kind of work that makes you want to show up. You'll be making the difference you want to make in the world and you'll be happier. It's that simple.

So to get you started, here's an outline of how you will land your Dream Job. Following that is a short assignment. When you've done that, call me, and we'll get you on to the next step.

1. Get past your mental barriers about jobs

Sometimes our biggest enemy is ourselves. There's work you can do to get over this, but it's beyond the scope of this article.

2. Define in detail what job you'd like.

But more than this, define who this lets you be and how this is consistent with your view of the world.

It's like this: I can say, “Hey, I'm a coach. Do you need any coaching?” you'll be like “Uh, yeah, that's nice.” But if I say, “I help people hack the job-seeking process to find their Dream Job at the pay that they are worth,” you'll ask how. And when I add value, you will see a way forward with me.

The advantages: I'm excited when I talk about this because I see the impact I make. I give you a perspective you haven't had before. You get what I can do for you. And you get to walk away with an action to take that wasn't there before.

You get to see me excited about what I want to do. And people, they really prefer working with happy, excited folk.

You paint a picture of how you fit in the organization of your potential employer, and show him that to on-board you is a no-brainer. You're already on board. You are what he needs (because you are applying to people who do the exact work you want). You've already given him ideas about what you can provide, and maybe even some he's never thought of.

So these are some the questions you'll want to start with:

3. Who has the kind of job you want?

The key here is to dig into your current network (it's a lot bigger than you think) and start to find the people who do exactly the kind of work you want.

4. How do I reach them?

You talk to them. You talk to the people you know who know them. Think again to my example above. “I ask you whom do you know that might need a programmer?” Meh. If I say I really love the programming work around getting a prototype operational, and I am really good at troubleshooting so that we can iterate quickly, you will automatically think about the kinds of companies that build prototypes, and the people you know there.

You'll still have to work for the introductions, but it won't be as hard.

Now, you might also find that because you are so interested, excited, and ambitious that the folks you talk to will start thinking about what similar work they have in their organization. (“What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture evaporators.” “Evaporators! Sir, my first job was programming binary load lifters, very similar to your evaporators in most respects.”). In some cases, you might also find that you can enroll people or businesses in creating a role for you where they are sadly lacking.

5. How do I add value?

You do your research. Look into the companies that have the kind of work you want to do. Spend some time finding who the key players are, and what their pain points are.

Then you use your network to reach out to these people and interview them about the work you'd like to do.

Once you've determined their pain points, you'll come up with ideas to help ease their pain. Then you are already the solution to their problem.

For instance, I also help people and companies design their websites and e-mail campaigns to drive business. When I see a site that isn't well designed to deliver, I can reach out and offer a handful of suggestions to improve customer engagement.

You become the solution. Maybe they've even thought about your solution (if you do your research right, you would know this as well) and are just too overwhelmed to implement. Here comes the implementation ready to go. Instead of having to figure it out, they'll see you already have, or at least have a plan to, and they can delegate to you.

So let's take a look at what we can do now:

1. Notice How Much of Your Job Seeking You Put in other People's Hands.

If it's not clear yet, the job-seeking model I am setting up here puts you in the driver's seat.

A lot of us are used to scouring job boards looking for something we could do. What we miss is that the job board is most employers last resort. In fact, most jobs are never posted. And this makes sense. If someone has a job he wants filled, he's going to start by asking the people he knows and knows he can work with. After that, he'll extend his search to people one or two degrees away from him. Only then will he post a job. At this point, it's an effort for him. When he gets a stack of resumes, what he wants to do is discard most of them, interview a handful, and choose the closest fit. Even then, he doesn't relish the idea of training a new person, and taking away even more time from his other work.

So instead of waiting for an opening, and hoping you hear about it when something that you might be able to do comes along, and then placing your resume in a stack with similar candidates, you are going to create the opportunities yourself.

It may seem like a bigger effort up front, but the chances of finding the job that is the best fit for you, and the employer finding someone he knows will do the job, go up exponentially.

2. Inventory your life.

Make a list of the things you've done. I don't just want skills here. You want to get into the habit of telling your story. Now notice which ones you want to tell me more about. Maybe you are a programmer. So are lots of people. Maybe you had a great time programming binary load lifters. What lit you up about this work? What difference did you make? What result did you produce? What do the things you enjoyed have in common? Is there a theme?

Don't limit this to work. Just make a list and see what starts showing up. With a little bit of effort, you'll start connecting the things you like to things you can do. You might even become a bit excited about it.

3. Bonus Opportunity

If you are clear that a certain job is right for you, or you find yourself particularly interested in a certain line of work, reach out to your network (even if it's only a facebook post) and ask your people who they know that do this work.

TL:DR

You want to be in the driver's seat in your job search. This sends strong signals to your potential employer: that you want to do the job, that you know you are a fit for the organization, and that you are ready to hit the ground running. Your role is to make your potential employer's life easier and add value to his department and the organization. In other words, don't reach out to someone to ask questions that you can answer with a web search. Come in knowing as much as you can about the organization, and with a clear picture of the value you can add.

And if you want any support, schedule a call:

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