Tips from a Seven Month Job Search

From the Wall Street Journal | Feb 17, 2010 By Kevin Mergens

Kevin Mergens was a product manager for ADP Dealer Services. His job was eliminated in June 2009. Previously, Mr. Mergens, 40, was a marketing manager at Littelfuse. He earned an M.B.A. from Michigan State University ’s Broad School of Management in 1993. Mr. Mergens lives with his wife and three children in Niles, Ill.

I am now more than a month into my career with, I-CAR, an automotive-focused educational organization. I am doing many of the same things I have done over my 15 years in product marketing, but will be adding many new challenges to my plate. I feel very fortunate to find an opportunity that will utilize both my background in product marketing and the automotive industry.

I am not going to pretend like I have the formula to finding a new job — all I can do is share what I have done over the past seven months that ultimately helped me land my new role. So for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts:

Start the search as soon as possible: I was let go on a Friday and was visiting with a placement organization on Monday. Some folks told me to take a month off, but I do not recommend doing that. Like it or not, you will have some time on your hands; why wait on getting started?

Network: I made a huge mistake in not keeping up with my network while with ADP. Since I was starting from scratch, I had to spend a few months of unemployment building up my number of LinkedIn contacts. Now that I have a new job, I have made a vow to send out some sort of correspondence quarterly and more frequently as needed.

Get added training: Take advantage of the unfortunate downtime to further your classes – especially in something that could boost your chances of landing a new position. In every interview I had, I was asked: ‘What have you been doing since being let go? Taking on new training shows initiative and the desire to add value to yourself. In addition, my new role does utilize some of the skills I learned in the training I had taken last fall. Having that was a big plus for me.

Hit the job boards: While the boards get a bad rap, I had success with them. A number of interviews came from the sites. As with anything, balance is key — you don’t want to focus on only one search method.

Volunteer: Find a local charity or worthwhile cause where you can spend some of your time. I volunteer with two groups and will continue to do so. This not only gave me a feeling of self worth, but just like taking added training, was something I discussed on interviews.

Stay positive: Keep churning through ads, networking events, targeting, informational interviews, and other job search tools. Somewhere along the process you will come across a fit and land a job. The more folks who know you, the better your chances are of your name getting in front of someone that can use your skill set.

I was given the opportunity to contribute to this blog due to contacts I had found via networking. Being able to share some of my thoughts and random observations has been therapeutic (and also has given me some great exposure). For anyone who is searching — just keep plugging away and stay positive.

Readers, what are you finding most difficult during your search? If you’ve recently landed a job, what have you found to be most useful? Share your thoughts in the comments section.