I’m the queen of not reading directions. I know this is stereotypically a male-associated trait, but its true. I don’t like directions. In fact I would go as far as to say I don’t like maps, instructions, or anything that suggests I should follow an orderly development of progression. Blame my liberal arts education, or my 80’s born, Springsteen-listening, born-free self…but I don’t like rules. What does all this have to do with searching for a job?

When it comes to a job search, you can’t skip the first step people. I don’t care how much you relate to my unruly, free-spirited antics…now is not the time to go wandering the job search space in hopes of landing a job. Often I get asked, “What resource should I be using to find a job?” I always counter with one question, “what are you looking to do?” People always get a bit frazzled (and frankly somewhat snooty) and say “well find a job obviously.” Uhm. That’s great, but what are you looking to do? I mean, what stage are you in? Are you looking for advice for resumes and interviews, are you researching companies, are you contemplating a career move that better aligns with your passions?

The first step to successful job searching is to decide—what your goal is? You cant possibly find the correct resource for your needs if you aren’t sure what those needs are. Here are just a few answers you could come up with—

Information on a specific career—what kind of lifestyle you would have, what kind of benefits you can expect, what kind of growth (or lack there of) it is experiencing?

Suggestions on ways to brand yourself when you know what job/career you want. What words should you be highlighting, what strengths should you be fine-tuning, what weaknesses should you be correcting?

Guidance on assessing job offers—should you ask for more? Should you be receiving a different title? Are you and this company culture a good match?

There are a number of different stages to a job search and in many ways there really is a process to it. I’m not going to go as far as to say there are step-by-step directions to landing a job out there. If anything I would say its more like the Ikea directions we all loathe—the information is all given to us, we just don't understand where to start, or how to use the tools that are given to us. We know we need them, but how do you use those things? That’s why it is crucial NOT to skip the first step and really identify your job search goals. Force yourself to give your job hunt structure. It’s the first step to streamlining your job search, which we all know is critical when wasting time isn’t an option…a.k.a. when you aren’t getting a paycheck. So pick up a pen (or open a Word document) and face the hardest question head-on. When it comes to your job search-- “What are you looking to do?”

I hope to put together some rough guidelines in the upcoming weeks for those of you who feel really overwhelmed with the idea of “defining your job search plan.” If anyone has any tips on ways they have successfully made sense of the chaos, please feel free to leave it below and I will be sure to incorporate it and give you credit.