Conducting a job search can be a long drawn out process and often difficult to maintain the motivation to commit time and effort to the search. If you're feeling frustrated, now might be an optimal time to re-strategize and critically assess which activities are yielding results and which activities should be retired.

Below are our top tips on activities that can propel your job search efforts to the next level:

Optimize Your Resume Format:

When was the last time you updated your resume format? Rather than just adding a new line to an old dusty resume every time you get a new role or accomplishment, take a holistic look at the document and the story it tells. Are there aspects of your resume that are now irrelevant, given your new career goal? Are you still showcasing university grades? Can new achievements be written in more powerful ways? Dedicate some time to re-evaluating your most important career tool and ensure that you are putting forward a document that creates an impactful impression. 

Perfect Your Personal Brand:

Everyone has a personal brand, whether they like it or not, and your personal brand can significantly impact your job search. Use this time to scrutinize the image that you are presenting: are you using an old, unprofessional email address? Are you using a consistent name across email, LinkedIn, social media and career documents (for example, if you go by Will over William, do you use the same one everywhere)? You could even boost your personal brand by presenting yourself as an industry thought leader via blogs, LinkedIn publisher and other platforms. This will help showcase your experience and increase your visibility to the right recruiters.

Utilize Your LinkedIn Profile:

With your list of experience and skills limited to 1-2 pages on your resume, your LinkedIn profile can be a priceless tool to provide additional information and really go into more depth regarding your individual accomplishments. Your LinkedIn profile should not be a straight copy/paste from your resume. Rather, you should carefully craft your LinkedIn profile to provide details, reflect your personal brand and highlight your value and key goals. By investing some time into making an optimized LinkedIn profile, you can make a powerful job search tool to strategically network with industry peers and relevant recruiters in your filed of interest. Ten minutes of networking a day can really make a difference to your time spent in transition and for those who are currently employed, its better to strengthen those connections now, before your time of need.
 

Create a Job Search Plan:

To maintain focus and stay on the right career track, it’s important to set yourself long term and short term job search goals. Rather than feeling demotivated because you haven’t secured your next role already, set yourself mini-tasks such as arranging a meeting with a key contact, updating your resume and cover letter, or connecting with two industry peers on LinkedIn which will help you work towards your overall goal and leave you with a feeling of accomplishment.