Job Searching Tips for 2024

Having shared insights and strategies for the past three years, I have once again challenged myself to round up a few job searching tips for anyone hoping to make a career shift in 2024, or just wanting to be more intentional about their career aspirations.

As my career coaching services continues to grow, I have seen the positive impacts of the insights I will share below on my clients. In fact, many clients have been successful at making a big leap in their professional lives as a result of taking one of more of the actions I will describe below.

Setting a direction

Many of us are taught to set goals when looking for a job or wanting to make some big changes to our careers. However, even if we set realistic goals and adhere to the SMART criteria when setting goals, the process of goal setting can feel daunting.

Instead of focusing only on goals, consider setting a direction first. There are many ways to figure out what direction you want to go in, but some examples include:

• Up: moving up hierarchies, increasing responsibilities, climbing the ladder
• Across: lateral moves, expanding scope, deepening understanding
• Down: scaling back, reducing responsibilities, slowing the pace

Once you have a sense of your direction, the goal-setting process may then become easier. Directions are also more flexible than goals, which can help to accommodate the unexpected and the unplanned aspects of our lives.

Assembling a toolbox

Similar to artists, chefs, or tradespeople, the tools we use in mapping our careers are essential to success. The first step is to assemble the tools that work best for our chosen professions, hone those tools, and continuously add to them.

A couple of the "tools" I have recommended to my career coaching clients include templates and trackers to help keep the job application process organized and systematic and collecting good interview questions to prepare for future interviews.

However, in the past year, one extremely powerful and useful tool that has emerged is ChatGPT and the use of generative AI in our job search. A few ideas for prompts include:

• "Give me [a number] ideas for setting a career direction."
• "I am interviewing for an [entry/mid/senior-level] [type of position], give me [a number] interview questions that test my competency in [list skills from job description or the company website]."
• "What is the average salary for a [entry/mid/senior-level] [type of position] in [location]?"
• "Give me [a number] examples of insightful questions I can ask when networking with a new person or during an information interview."
• "Give me [a number] of the best adjectives to use in a resumé."

Be creative and think of different prompts that could be helpful in generating ideas for your job search or job application.

Following up

There is so much power in the simple follow up email or message. Although it only takes a few minutes to write, following up after a job interview, an informational interview, or a coffee chat with a new professional contact can go a long way.

Saying thank you and expressing gratitude for people's time and energy is almost always a good idea. If you can incorporate an insightful question about a topic that came up in your conversation or offer some useful information that may benefit the person you met with, that can really push your follow-up email to the next level.

Following up after a job interview is often an undervalued move in the application process. Sometimes a gentle nudge can really pay off and there is really nothing for you to lose - and so much to gain - in a well-crafted follow-up email.

As always, I hope the insights I have shared is useful for anyone considering professional changes in the coming year.

Working with a career coach can help to customize these techniques for your personal circumstances, so if you are ready to prioritize your career in 2024, consider looking for a coach that can meet your needs.

And if you want to work with me as your career coach, please take a look at my website and add yourself to my waitlist if you think we could be a good fit :)

Please leave a comment below if you have found these strategies useful, if you have other strategies that you think others could benefit from knowing about, and if you have any questions!