What I’m doing to find employment
Monday, 22 Jan 2007 | Work in Asia
One of the questions a lot of people ask me when I talk to them is how the job hunt is going. While it is one of the things I have early on decided I would not keep a journal about on this website, as I feel it not polite and it perhaps would have a negative influence. I have indeed been working on getting a job and have recently decided to step up that effort as well.
Acquisition
The first step each and every time is ‘lead acquisition’. After all, I’m simply trying to sell myself. I try to get these leads from a few different sources.One of the most important sources for actual openings is regularly reading the classifieds in the newspapers. Most of them publish their classifieds online as well as in the actual newspaper. Thats why, even when living in Bangkok, its still fairly easy to read the classifieds for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and Singapore’s Straits Times.
Although seemingly bigger in the west than they are here, executive searchers are still a major player in the job market. And because these firms are hired to fill high-end positions, they make an interesting source of opportunities. I will be selecting a few respected ones and introduce myself by sending them an open application letter.
The most time consuming but also most fun part of my effort however, is networking. I have an existing network in the west which I try to use. But in addition, I attend events where I will be able to meet new people. Networking events, business functions and perhaps even trade shows and exhibitions make for good opportunities. It’s always great to meet new people, perhaps it is not those people who will be looking for someone like me. But maybe it is their friends, or the friends of their friends. And the fun thing is, everybody is there for that exact reason. So, while there is an etiquette involved, there is no shame in ‘plugging’ yourself. It will help someone determine who to introduce you to, which will help you on your way.
Follow-up
And after I get a good lead, which means there is certainly an opportunity for a job somewhere, I go to the next step of ‘follow-up’. These are pretty basic activities, but perhaps the most important of all to ‘close the deal’.Writing letters is important. And a lot of thought goes into each and every one I send out the door. This goes for the open applications I mentioned before, as well as applications for a specific job. They of course can’t be too long, so I have to try and make every word count as much as possible. Writing a coverletter as well as customizing my resume (changing the emphasis slightly) for each application I feel is very important.
And of course I will be meeting people. Either because I met that person at an event somewhere, somebody referred me to them or because they invited me to their office to further discuss an opportunity.