Last week I talked about what I meant by going “on offense” in one’s career. I thought I’d itemize my thoughts to give people ideas and directions.
By “Going on The Offensive” in your search I basically mean taking the initiative in a focused, planned way that involves activity before response.
So here’s Steve’s Quick Guide to Taking The Offensive as it were:
HAVE A GOAL: Have a goal for your life and career that you really want and hold onto it hard. This gives you direction, inspiration, and guides you in repurposing events and opportunities.
HAVE A PLAN: Have a plan for reaching your goal. You want an outline that you can act on.
MEASURE RESULTS: Measure your progress. Turn things into numbers. For instance, if you want to make money as an artist, keep track of money you make each month.
HAVE A NEXT STEP: Always know what your next step is and do it – even if the next step is “take a week off to rest.” You should be able to, at any time, take one hour and move yourself forward.
HAVE AN EDUCATION PLAN: Train yourself. Have a plan to train yourself. Do it.
REPURPOSE: Ask how you can use your current job, experience, contacts, etc. to work towards your goals.
CHANGE AS NEEDED: Do adapt – but don’t give up too easily. You’ll need to learn when to change and when not to.
ASSOCIATE WITH SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE: Friends, professional associations, what have you. You need people that keep you going and that you go places with.
STAY UP ON NEWS: Stay up on news relevant to your goals and dreams so you stay inspired and informed.
Note that most of this is being active. It may be a kind of martial-arts like waiting for activity or precise strike, but active it is.
That’s really the key to an Offensive Job search – actively pursuing things in the appropriate way and not giving up.
So how are you going to take things on the Offense?
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.