Do you plan each week for your job search?

One of the biggest challenges in a job search is to make the weekly investment of time that is necessary to make contacts with people who are hiring (advertised or not).  Blindly emailing resumes often has limited success.  

This is where your relationship with God comes in to help in your time of need.  Remember that in your job search, the Holy Spirit is there to guide and direct you into the Father's will for you in this season.  God the Father is in control (sovereign) , he is good and he causes all things to work together for your good as well ...or as the ESV study bible footnote says....God works IN ALL THINGS for the good.

Romans: 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together hfor good,1 for ithose who are called according to his purpose.

Footnotes

[1] 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good

One of the keys in staying in touch with the Spirit during your job search is regular prayer...acknowledging your dependence on God for his help.    Below is a devotional by Os Hillman that exhorts us about the importance of good planning.  Mr. Hillman shares his insights in respect to the lack of planning in a failed construction project or the tendency of entrepreneurs to not follow thru on the detailed planning that is necessary to make their ideas reality.  The importance of planning in a job search is fundamental to success.  

In addition to regularly crying out/praying  to God for his help and guidance in your search, I suggest you consider the following activities and block the appropriate time slots in your upcoming weekly schedule to keep momentum going in your job search....putting on your calendar to do such things as: 

• blocking a certain time each week to plan for the week.  I like to use the "roles and goals" approach which is addressed in another blog.  Once you get your roles and goals template up and running it takes as little as 10 minutes a week to advance specific, atttainable and measurable (SAM) goals that you sense God is leading you in.  

             (Caution:  If you are not committed to regular planning, a week can go by without doing anything on your job search.  A week of inactivity can easily turn into successive weeks of inactivity and all of a sudden months go by and there has been no intentional investment in the hard work it takes to look for a job .  Left unchecked, a lack of planning and actual investment of time in your job search often times leads to discouragement and a temptation to give up your search.

• doing discovery exercises in books like "What Color is Your Parachute?"  to better understand your God given gifts and passions to be used in the work place for God's glory and your best good. 

• planning to attend the weekly Tuesday night McLean Church Career Network Ministry (CNM)...an exceptional ministry with its sole mission being  to support folks looking for jobs with over 60 trained job counselors ready to assist folks each Tuesday night.

• blocking time in your weekly schedule for looking for job opportunities on job sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, Indeed.com, USAJobs (governement).  Take the time to set up job searches on the respective websites so you will get emails when a new job opportunity is first advertised in your area of interest.  This email notification makes it so much easier to stay on top of breaking announcements.

• arranging for making a certain number of informational interview calls or office cold calls (see "What Color is your Parachute for more on this topic) each week.

• finding and beginning to attend a monthly professional society meeting in the area of your vocational interest.  This is an excellent way to get in touch with folks who are passionate about and dedicated to the stuff you are interested in.  You can build a network of workplace points of contacts that will not only serve you gleaning information for your current job search but will be sources of counsel for years to come.

• working  on making your resume "base template"  (what you edit each time for a specific job advertisement by making sure you have used the appropriate "key words" from the ad in your resume )  more robust with specific details and accomplishments to distinguish yourself from other applicants.

Read on for more insight in the devotional entitled, "TGIF - Complete the Work" that can be found at:  https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/133d4885f977d145

Today's Prayer 

Dear Father in Heaven, my hope is in your unfailing love. I acknowledge that you are the source of all that I am. You are the one who gives me the ability to work, plan, and execute. Help me to keep my mind on your abilities, not my abilities. Please show me how to maintain this balance of your abilities and desire to do for me and through me and my abilities that you have given me to use in work and ministry. I pray that, with your guidance, I will use my abilities to the fullest at home, work, and play, and that you will get the glory for all the good that is done. Thank you in the name of Jesus, amen.

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Complete the Work
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
11-24-2011

"Tell Archippus: 'See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.'" (Col 4:17).

Have you ever driven by a construction project that was half finished but was now abandoned? It is a lasting testimony of something that had a vision, often with significant money invested, but something happened that killed the project.

Why do projects fail to be completed? There could be a number of reasons. There could have been a failure to raise adequate funds to complete it. There could have been a fall-out among management. The project could have been simply ill-conceived.

Good planning is key to estimating what it will take to complete a project. "Then the LORD replied: 'Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time ?'" ( Hab 2:2-3).

We must conceive the project and clearly write out the vision with detailed specifications that identify what will be needed to complete it. Entrepreneurs have a tendency to conceive projects without estimating the financial and manpower requirements to complete the projects. Many a project has died because of this trait in entrepreneurs.

Great entrepreneurs understand their need to have detail-people around them that can take their ideas and put the details around them. These are wise entrepreneurs who have learned to complement their weakness with those who can help them achieve their vision.

Do you have a vision for a work God has called you to do? Identify what will be needed to achieve success. 

Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.