When out of work, craft job strategy

Get busy, you consumers who are out of work.

Create a job plan -- a strategy to get you back to work sooner rather than later.

David Jones, the Tennessee author of "Surviving and Thriving after Losing Your Job," said in an interview that he is surprised at how many people don't have a plan to help them get back to work.

It doesn't have to be elaborate, he said. Putting a simple plan in writing helps you focus on finding a new job and holds you accountable for taking the actions that you described on paper.

He suggests following these steps to create a job plan:

• Jot down your career objective.

Don't put down that you want to find an accounting job, or a marketing job, or a job working for a retailer. "That's too vague," he said.

Be specific. Write: "I want to get hired as an accounting manager earning between $70,000 and $75,000 at a medium-size company by August."

If you cannot convey specifically what job you want and what your job skills are, it will hurt you as a candidate, he said.

Why would an employer hire you if he or she perceives that you are not focused and can't articulate what you want to do, or what your skills and abilities are that could add value to the company?

Jones added that setting a deadline date to get hired, even if it doesn't happen and you have to keep moving it, keeps you focused.

• Identify behaviors to follow each day.

Every action that you take moves you closer to your goal of finding a job, he said. Every day of inaction may move you further from getting a job.

Examples of behaviors that you can jot down in your job plan: You are going to make three phone calls each day, send out five resumes each day, follow up with two people each day and network with one new individual each week.

"It may be as simple as, 'I am going to get up and take a shower and dress professionally today,' instead of getting up and saying, 'Hopefully, the phone will ring today,'" Jones said.

Rather than waiting for something to happen, make it happen, he said. It will advance you toward your job objective.

• Set milestones that you wish to achieve.

Milestones -- like mile markers along an interstate highway -- are the results that you achieve after working your plan daily.

Examples of milestones: You want to send out X resumes by X date. You want to have X number of interviews and have a job by X date.

"You don't want to keep things open-ended," Jones said.

• Find a buddy to cheer you on.

You want a positive person who can help hold you accountable to your job plan, he said. Have coffee with the person once a week and discuss your progress.

Become an avid networker. Eighty percent of people find jobs through networking rather than conventional job-seeking channels, Jones said. "Make networking a way of life."

Contact Iris Taylor at (804) 649-6349 or .