Reactive vs. Proactive job search

Someone left me a comment that I’ve been thinking about a lot this morning:

You are all over the place and very “reactive” with your job search.

Have you considered being more “proactive”?

Have you sat down and thought about what exactly you would like to be doing in 5 years and mapped how to get there? Then, working from that, identified the skill set, training and experience you would need to get there?

Once you’ve determined where it is you want to be in 5 years and what is needed to get there, find the companies and organizations that would have the opportunities and positions for a smart and enterprizing young lady such as yourself… and make a cold call and sell yourself.

I’ve done it…. you can too. It is more strategic and it’ll get you where you want to be.

It’s interesting, and I’m very aware that I’m being reactive to the job search. I had a conversation with a friend a week or so ago about where I’d like to be in 5 years – and I know exactly what I want to do … which is why I’ve been so reluctant to move away from this city. I have my foot in the door with my dream career (my PT job), and I’ve been trying to figure out how to take it to the next level. I’ve done a lot of cold calling all across Canada and have been sending in my resume for future consideration, but it is such a hard (and very competitive) industry to crack. I’m fully aware that the chances of me getting a FT position in that industry is very unlikely at this point in my career, but I am trying.

A lot of the interviews I’ve been doing are for jobs related to my education … and I wouldn’t necessarily want to take the position (like the 3-month contract), but I’m trying to keep all my doors open at this point.

Right now, I think my best move is to get to Vancouver, where there’s a bigger market and more opportunities in the career field that I really want to get into. But in the meantime, I’m trying to search for a FT job that would enhance the skills and qualities I would need to get a job like that. And while all that is going on, my PT job is providing me with the industry contacts and direct experience needed to get to where I want to go. My only hope is that if I move to Vancouver, I can find a similar PT position with a similar organization. Having that would almost be more important than what I was doing for my FT job.