Targeting Your Next Opportunity

A job search without targeting will result in an awful lot of dead-ends because the fit-factor simply isn’t there. Even more alarming, you could land a job for which you aren’t really suited or that isn’t a good culture fit for you.

Targeting done well means finding the intersection between what you have to offer and what the company is looking for, especially mutual alignment around purpose.

Think of targeting like a marketing plan—and you are the product! How and where should you be marketed?

Targeting your next opportunity means:

• Starting with geography—where do you want to live and work (sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t give enough thought to it).
• Looking at the companies in that area: Which firms do you admire? Where do you think you’d fit? Best-case scenario is knowing someone who works for that company and can tell you what it’s like there and give you a reality check about fitting in.
• Considering the roles and responsibilities that are a good fit for your background, experiences and competencies. (This is another reason why it’s super important to know yourself first!) Ask a mentor or a former boss for feedback: Where do they see you making a contribution to an organization?

Targeting is the hard work that must be done. Leaving your career to chance is too big of a risk.