Chapter 2 Identifying a Job Target

Introduction

Identify Your Job Target

Organizing Your Search

Informational Interviews

Introduction

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Identify Your Job Target

Job hunting is a laborious and time-consuming process. Identifying a target list of jobs, organizations and industries can speed up the job search process. To begin, ask yourself the following questions about a job you’re interested in:

Do you like it?

This answer should be yes! If you’re unsure, schedule an informational interview with someone who does this type of work, volunteer, or do job shadowing.

Are you good at it?

You should be at least good enough at it that someone will hire you to do it. You don’t have to be an expert--jobs should give you room to grow, but it shouldn’t utilize all of your worst skills.

Is there a market for it?

You should be able to find job postings for this type of position.

Will it meet your salary and benefit requirements?

Don’t rush headlong toward a career that won’t meet your basic financial needs. You can always negotiate non-financial perks or chances for increased salary in the future, but if you won’t be able to meet your basic needs this may not be the right job.

Figure 2.1 depicts two individuals asking questions about their job target.

Figure 2.1 Asking questions about your job target

Organizing Your Search

The modern job search can easily become overwhelming. Use a spreadsheet (like the example below) to keep track of the information you gather.

Figure 2.2 Depicts a spreadsheet example of how two organize your search

Figure 2.2 A spreadsheet example of how to organize your job targets.

You should also spend time keeping track of events you attend and connections you make so you can have a concrete list of people to follow up with as you continue your search. Many candidates will use Notes apps, Google Docs, Excel spreadsheets or other software tools to keep track of their progress. It’s important to organize your activity, your materials, and your results to avoid getting overwhelmed during the research stage.

When you apply for a position, it’s a good idea to create a folder (in your email or on your desktop) where you keep the job posting for reference before an interview, and where you store targeted resumes and the specific cover letters you send to each employer. These documents will be valuable during the research process before the interview, because you'll be able to look back at specific job description details and what you included in your resume to find tune your questions to interview responses.

There are a lot of wonderful tools online, many of them free, they can help you keep track of all of this information. Reach out to your network or connect with a career coach to get additional suggestions if you have a hard time with organization.

Informational Interviews

Most job seekers see informational interviews as a shortcut to research. Why not find someone who does the job, works at the organization, or works in the industry so they can give you a summary of the job, organization, or industry, instead of plowing through secondary data yourself? There are several reasons it is a bad idea to jump right to informational interviews without conducting your own research first:

Potential interview targets are going to think it’s not worth their time if you are just there to take information from them, rather than having an interesting two-way exchange.
Just because someone does the job or is part of an organization or industry doesn’t mean that they have an exhaustive command of the information for that job, organization, or industry. You will not get an objective, comprehensive view of your target just by talking to a few people.
Unless your interview target is skilled at tailoring advice across a range of backgrounds, what they will share is based on their specific experience, skills, and personality. It may not be relevant to you or your situation.
You get just the basic information because you do not know enough to ask probing questions or to confirm or refine information you gather beforehand. It is a wasted opportunity for you to get more nuanced information.
You come across as knowing nothing about the job, organization, or industry. You wasted an opportunity to demonstrate your interest and knowledge, and therefore market yourself as a possible person to work in that job, organization, or industry.

Questions to Ask

The best informational interviews are two-way exchanges of information, more like a conversation than an interrogation. You are offering the information you have collected via your research and the interviewee is adding his or her thoughts and ideas. You come across not as the novice looking for a favor and more as a colleague brainstorming ideas. People are busy and don’t always take the time to read business news, attend trade association meetings, or do the in-depth research you will be doing. They will appreciate you bringing to them the latest news. By being well researched and prepared, you do not have to feel like you are imposing on someone when asking for an informational interview. You will be giving back as well, in terms of information on breaking news, trends, or innovations.

Questions to ask about the interviewee

"How did you get involved in this job, organization, or industry?"
"What do you like most about it? What has been most rewarding?"
"What is most challenging? Was there anything that surprised you?"
"What is a typical day, week, or month?"
"What skills are most critical to have, develop, and maintain to be successful?"
"What personality types are most successful?"
"What do you know now that you wished you knew when you started?"

Interest in their specific background establishes rapport because it shows you care about them specifically.

It also gives you a foundation for questions to ask later because you know more about their experience.

Questions to ask about the industry

"According to my research, the top competitors are [name the competitors]. Am I missing anyone you think is significant? Is there a new player I should know about?"
"According to my research, [name a trend, challenge, or innovation] is a major trend, challenge, or innovation. Is this affecting your job or organization? Is this overestimated in the media? Are there are other trends, challenges, or innovations I should be concerned about?"

This is why research prior to the informational interview is so critical. You use your research findings as a springboard for conversation. You are not relying on the interviewee to think of everything and be the sole source of information. You are offering ideas, too. Informational interviews also enable you to dive deeper into what you previously researched.

Pick several research findings to test, and choose what to ask based on what level and type of experience your interviewee has. If your interviewee is very experienced and senior, you can ask broad strategy questions. If your interviewee is focused on a very specific area, say technology, focus on technology-related issues in the discussion.

Questions to ask about career-related information

"According to my research, it is customary for people in this job to make [name salary range] and experience [name lifestyle, travel, or work culture]. Is that accurate? Are there any nuances to this that are not publicized in general media?"
"According to my research, the typical career trajectory is [name different titles you have seen for the job]. Is this accurate? Does this differ by company?"
"How would you describe the culture of your organization? Does this vary greatly for companies in the industry?"
"According to my research, it is customary for people in this job to have [name skills and experiences]. Is my background of [summarize your skills and experience] competitive? If you knew of an opening for this type of job, would you consider me or refer me?"
"What about my background is most relevant to this job? What would I need to do to improve my chances?"

These questions enable you to get information on the touchy issues of compensation and lifestyle, as well as candid feedback on your hiring prospects. By offering ideas, you take the pressure off the interviewee to reveal sensitive information. Instead, you give them something to react to. People will also appreciate that you have done some salary research, as they might not have time to see what is happening in the market, and they will want to reciprocate by sharing something they know.

Asking about the competitiveness of your skills and experience is not the same as asking for a specific job. You should never ask for a job in an informational interview. It is disingenuous because you asked for a meeting to focus on gathering information, not to ask for a job.

Questions to ask to better understand the organization

"What department are you in (i.e., the specific name if it’s not revealed in their introduction or on their business card)?"
"Who oversees this department?"
"How does it fit in with the rest of the organization?"
"Is this structure typical, or are your competitors organized differently?"
"I am doing research on [name another organization] and trying to find who runs the [name department you want]. Do you know anyone there whom I could ask?"

If you are trying to fill out spaces in your organizational chart, you should ask these questions if your interviewee would likely know the answers. If your interviewee is very junior or works in a department with little other contact, he or she may not know, so don’t take it personally if they don’t share any information. You should also ask about other organizations because sometimes insiders do know their competitors. You also might get referrals to additional potential informational interviews.

Communication Types

Be Polite: Common Rules of Etiquette Apply

Common rules of etiquette apply in the protocols of informational interviews. When asking for the interview, you can approach your interviewee by phone, email, or LinkedIn. There is no one right answer, but each has advantages and disadvantages:

Approach By Phone

Advantages:

Potential for immediate response
For people who are difficult to reach, you cut through a lot of back and forth if you happen to reach them right away

Disadvantages:

Disruptive to the interviewee
You have very little time to introduce yourself and make your request

Approach By Email

Advantages:

Fast but still gives you the opportunity to refine your draft
Recipient can respond right away or wait until later
Enables you to include hyperlinks for more information about you

Disadvantages:

Cannot confirm that the recipient receives or reads it

Approach By LinkedIn

Advantages:

Same as email, but more professional
Gives recipient immediate access to more information about you
Allows you to see who they are connected with (potential to make additional connections)

Disadvantages:

Inconsistent use among users; some people check it regularly and some do not
As with any social media platform, there is always a risk of security issues

Using Indeed

Indeed.com is a website where employers post open positions. Candidates can search for jobs they’d like to apply for by browsing the posted open positions. To search for jobs, candidates can enter a job title in the”What” search box.

Candidates can narrow the search results by choosing a city to enter into the “Where” search box. Another choice is to include the term “remote” if looking for work that can be done from home.

Once these two basic pieces of information have been entered, you can click on “find jobs” to get a list of active job postings in that field.

Figure # ...

Search by location

Candidates who are still identifying a target job can begin browsing companies and positions by entering a location into the “where” box on the screen to specify location. Start by entering a city name, to get more general results, or a zip code to narrow it down. Using filters can help you narrow down your choices as you sift through the results. Indeed also has a “Career Paths” section you can browse for more information about specific titles.

Filter by requirements

If you know the exact qualifiers you are looking for in a job, you can use Indeed’s filtering both in the search bar by filling in your job title and location, and the option bar on the left-hand side of the results screen. this will help you narrow your choices, so you can focus on jobs that match your interests, skill set, and requirements.

Set up jobs alerts

Setting up job alerts can ensure that you receive email updates about new jobs that you might be interested in. You'll receive alerts as soon as the jobs are posted, and can create various alerts based on your needs. You can choose to receive updates daily or weekly, and can manage your alerts to pause or start them up again.

Research companies

The Company Page on Indeed provides more information. Here, you’ll find company reviews, common questions, job openings, and information about salaries. This information will help when applying and interviewing.

Search Engine Tricks

There are different ways to optimize the search results including search filters like location, job title, salary, or organization. Here are some search tips to improve results:

*table*

We encourage you to go to Indeed’s website for more tips on how to maximize your use of this platform.

Researching Salary

While you targeting your job and employer, it is important to set your expectations about salary and compensation. Here are a few questions to ask while researching:

What are my current expenses?
Is the salary practical for the job location?
What is the right salary range to sustain my current lifestyle?
Will this salary support my future goals?

Your research will help you prepare to answer questions during the interview about your salary expectations and help you negotiate a better package during the offer..

Tools for Researching Salary

There are various tools to gather information about a salary. The following salary tools are great for research purposes.

Glass door

Glassdoor is one of the biggest job sites providing information about job openings, working conditions, and salary packages gathered directly from former employees.

Indeed

Indeed is not only one of the biggest job sites, but also offers relevant payscale related information.

Salary.com

Salary.com offers both HR-reported aggregate market pay data and traditional compensation survey data.

Payscale.com

A custom profile allows you to research a job or general salary. Additionally, you can research fair compensation, salary negotiation, and best practices.

LMCI.state.tx.us

The Texas Workforce Commission maintains info about the local Texas job market with projections, job trends, and wages according to local standards.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics

An extensive database of employment rates, regional wages, job projections, median salaries, U.S. employment trends, occupation profiles, and demographic information.

Conclusion

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