Day 3 Plan you work (job search) and work your plan

When I began my search for a new career I discovered that I could easily get lost doing job searches on the Internet. Job sites like Monster and Career Builder listed hundred of jobs and offered dozens of articles to read about various careers. If I was not focused on what career trail I was on I could waste hours following interesting job leads but have nothing productive to show for my time.

After several experiences wasting hours wandering around aimlessly searching for job postings and reading about different careers I decided to change my approach. I began to start each day or computer session by writing down in a notebook what my job search objective would be before I got on the computer.

I found that I needed to write out a job search goal or an objective for myself each day or I would get lost in the Internet and forget what I was looking for. Since I wanted to make a career change I decided that I needed to explore various industries but only one at a time. What I would do is limit my career search to something like Training and Development. I might spend several days or even weeks exploring this one career.

When I came across a related career that interested me like Organizational Development I would write the name down and bookmark its website or link but I would not explore that career path right then. I found that this practice kept me focused and kept me from getting distracted and overwhelmed with the information I was learning.

To help me manage the information I gained about each career I investigated I started a career file. I created a new folder for each career category that interested me. Clearly identifying and limiting the scope of my search to one career at a time helped me to stay focused and productive.