The Timeline of a Successful Job Search

The Executive Job Search system we offer here is comprised of methods that have been proven successful in literally thousands of successful executive job searches over a span of 75 years. This sample timeline comes from these same experiences. And, while some people have been successful in finding new positions before completing the entire curriculum, there are compelling reasons to complete the entire course. This sample timeline will help you schedule your work.

Overwhelmingly, those who judiciously follow the timeline and the plan through to its conclusion have far better odds of landing more than just another job. They develop confidence in finding likely target companies, their ability to uncover the hidden job opportunities and their ability to get interviews with senior hiring executives. They acquire the tools to create their own opportunity and land the job of a lifetime.

There’s no perfect answer or universal formula for your timeline. Everybody’s path is unique, impacted by their own history, talents and ambitions. The following timeline is admittedly an abbreviated example, compressed in order to show the sequence that is more thoroughly outlined in the “Start Here” section, but it can provide you with perspective in developing your personal plan. You may also want to check out the Sample Sales Sequence for another view of how your job search may progress.

Day One

Make a list of your successes. You won’t be able to list them all at first, but by beginning the process, you will be setting the stage for a powerful resume and fueling your Executive Job Search program with the tools basic to the ultimate success of your search. Start putting them into the three-part Accomplishments formula.

Day Two

Begin to dissect these experiences, using the worksheets provided, to plot the commonalities that have contributed to your successes. Add to your list. You want to get a list of at least twenty- five to work with in this analysis phase and, ultimately, you will find that 100 – even 200 – accomplishments becomes an achievable goal.

Day Three

By day three of your timeline, you should have 36 or more Accomplishments. Now's the time to begin to identify your Key Talents. These are more than your main selling points, they are the guide posts to your target industries and companies.

Day Four

Start building your “Sound Bite Introductions” . . . your first round of elevator pitches. This is a continuing exercise as you will need more than one, depending on the situation and the industry or opportunity that you are presented with. Also, you will need 15, 30 and 60-second versions to fit different occasions.

(P.S. Keep adding to your Accomplishments . . . you should have over 50 by now!)

Day Five

Your timeline is well on its way. Work up your Qualification Statement(s). Continue adding Accomplishments . . . at least three to five more. (It helps to keep a notepad handy to jot down those you remember in odd moments.)

Day Six

Begin researching potential employers, companies that you think would be great to work for, industries that you are qualified for and interested in. And, keep adding to your Accomplishments. The more you have, the stronger case you will make with your resume and in your interviews.

Day Seven

Continue researching industries of potential employers. Start building your ensemble of Executive Resumes and Biographies. You may have half a dozen or more versions of each, depending on the field/s you are exploring. The key is to make each Executive Biography and/or Resume resonate with the reader’s interests and needs. Your goal here is to put yourself in the driver’s seat and start controlling the interview process. You want to select the companies that appeal to you and craft an appropriate “entry document” to obtain an Executive Interview.

(P.S. Keep adding more Accomplishments as they come to you.)

Day Eight

Identify contacts in key industries, research executive profiles (Google names in the news; LinkedIn will be another resource.) and build a plan to approach them for Informational (networking) Interviews. Here’s where you begin to use your Accomplishments. (But, don’t quit . . . keep adding to them.) You are about to open the tap to a continuous flow of targeted referrals that will ultimately take you to the real job interviews.

Day Nine

Here’s where the action and the excitement really start to build. Send letters to selected contacts requesting 15-minute interviews about their industry. These will be part of a concerted campaign to get powerful referrals that lead to real job interviews where you have a decided edge.

Day Ten

Begin your Personal Marketing Plan in earnest, building your professional network through interviews, LinkedIn contacts and your personal letter campaign.

Day Eleven . . . Through Twelve, Fifteen or Twenty (or more)

Use your acquired skills to send Letters of Introduction, make Networking Phone Calls, get Executive Referrals and keep working your Marketing Plan . . . 6, 8, 10 hours a day or more. The more you work the plan, the sooner you will find the right fit for you.

Return from Sample Timeline to Start Here.

Return from Sample Timeline to Job Search Training home page.

SBI!