The critical importance of planning, metrics, improvement, and accountability in a job search. How to set yourself for superior performance and consistent improvement tremendously shortening your job search while successfully driving up job search activity on a daily and weekly basis.

1. Planning, Metrics,
Improvement, &
Accountability: How
to shorten, control,
and improve the
timeline of your job
search while
significantly
increasing your job
search skills.
The Missing Piece.
Greg David
Laka & Co. Copyright 2012

2. Conducting a job search is like assembling a puzzle.

3. You’ve got to fit the right piece into the job search
puzzle the right way, at the right time.

4. These common mistakes lengthen a job
search considerably while making it
more difficult and frustrating.
Common Job Search Mistakes.

5. Error 1: Working hard without a formal plan and structure that
maps out your hour by hour activity a head of time.
This just makes you busy. Busy is not productive and does not
offer results consistently. It just makes you tired and frustrated.

6. Error 2: Not using contact management software to
manage your data, process, time, and productivity.
Not using a CMS product also makes it difficult for you
to successfully do ‘campaigns”. ***See other presentation on campaigns.

7. Error 3: Not being able to go from call to call or activity to
activity.
You will see that your biggest enemy of time is the gaps that
exist between your outgoing calls or activity to activity items.

8. Error 4: Not having daily goals for activity in each area.
Working without goals is chasing a dream. It’s not real and will
remain out of reach. It also prevents you from measuring success,
identifying improvement, and making adjustments to perform
better.

9. Error 5: Working in a ‘reactionary mode’.
You are not in control and not at your best when you are
in reactionary mode. You also are not making forward
progress when reacting. Planned activity is best.

10. Error 6: E-mail and applying to job postings are your
‘core’ center of activity.
This is admin activity---not productive activity. It should
be like dessert---not dinner. You treat this like dessert.

11. Error 7: You manually try to work with recruiting and
executive search firms and try to get in front of them.
This needs to be an automated process and you should
only meet with firms that have an assignment you may fit.

12. Error 8: You regularly call to keep your name in front of people.
This shows you are outdated and you’ll be known as someone
using outdated methods. Focus your energy on generating
‘new’ activity, not taking up others time.

13. Error 9: You use the phone regularly to stay in touch and follow up.
Blind follow up calls take others peoples time while offering no
value to them. Like applying to job postings this activity reeks of
the need for instant gratification. Channel your anxiety into
generating ‘new activity’.

14. Error 10: Not gathering data on your interview performance.
If you are not regularly getting to a face to face interview after
phone interviews, or are always coming in #2 or worse after face to
face interviews, you need behavior and performance modification.

15. Error 11: Not performing daily analysis and weekly
analysis to analyze your “golf swing” and make
adjustments in each of your activity areas.

16. Error 12: Working in a distraction laden environment
(i.e. household noises, radio, television, pets, family
members, etc.).

17. Error 13: Not having a clear separation of work area
(i.e. war room) and household area. You need a
“plane” to cross where you become the “work you”.
The “home you” needs to be left at home.

18. Error 14: Easing into your job search casually.
Putting your ‘toe in first’ is the approach most people use.
This approach essentially guarantees an extra 3-6-9
months added to the timeline of a job search.

19. Poor Behavior!
If you want different results, you
have to do different things.
At first there is a level of
discomfort.
Get over it!
60%
20%
15%
5%
Job Search Activity
Postings Recruiters Follow Up New Leads

20. There is No Effective Easy
Button!

21. Don’t Put Your Toe in the Water!

22. People Who Do Usually Suffer!

23. Instead, DIVE IN!

24. Change Your Attitude, Change Your
Life!

25. Let’s Focus on Adjustments!

26. Definition:
The act or process of
carrying out plans.
The establishment of
goals, policies, and
procedures.
Step 1: Planning.

27. BIG MISTAKE---POOR PLANNING!
Successful people at work, plan.
These same people perform a job search and
fail to plan. Or they replace planning with a
to do list. This is not planning.
Failing to competently plan doubles or even
triples the duration of a job search.
A job search is a puzzle. Making all the
pieces fit together takes strategy, planning,
and preparation.

28. Focus is on specific ‘new’ activity for the next day.
At least 25-50% of your daily activity is NEW activity.
Planning: Productive, not busy.
Planning should be done the night before formally using a
contact management software product. Not to do lists!
It should take an hour of intense thought and preparation
with no disruption or interruption.
Follow up activity is done after NEW activity.
Except with ‘campaigns’, this should be <50%.
Prioritize by HOUR/TIME when you will perform
tasks. Stick to your timelines and SPRINT!
Planning is perhaps the single most important item never done.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5

29. 1) Use a time planner.
2) Eliminate all
distractions.
3) Make every minute
count.
4) Identify action exercises---
continuous improvement.
5) What else? What else?
Brian Tracy: Plan & Prepare in Advance.

30. Brian Tracy
on
PLANNING:
http://www.briantr
acy.com/blog/leade
rship-success/plan-
and-prepare-in-
advance/

31. Planning “Best Practices”.
The most important time slots for
activity are generally between :
• 6:30 am - 8:00 am.
• 11:45 am - 1:00 pm.
• 5:15 pm - 6:30 pm.
Block Activity Hour by Hour.
•Use CMS software planner to schedule
activity.
•Focus on effectiveness and efficiency.
Prioritize Tasks.
•Outbound calls should be done first---
the earlier you call, the more time you
are giving them to call you back.
Track Progress By Hour/EOD.
•Sprint, don’t jog.
•Focus on POSITIVE energy and
enthusiasm.

32. Planning
allows you to
significantly
reduce the
GAPS of TIME
in between
your activity
items.

33. Definition:
A standard of
measurement.
Step 2: Metrics.

34. BIG MISTAKE---NO METRICS!
Successful people at work apply metrics.
These same people perform a job search and
fail to measure.
If you cannot measure, you cannot identify
gaps in performance.
Not improving means not successfully
navigating the job search puzzle, and adding
significant time to the job search timeline.

35. During planning time, you analyze daily results versus
daily and weekly goals, and note gaps.
Metrics allow for IMPROVEMENT.
Measure each hour in each category and track results daily
and weekly. Have numeric goals and track your hit ratio.
Goals should be on activity categories (i.e. jobs applied to,
phone interviews, face to face interviews, campaigns, etc.).
During planning time, you identify adjustments to
make in each activity for the following day.
If you identify a gap and do not know the
solution, you research in O.T., not planning time.
Improving just 2% a day can cut your job search in half.
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4
Item 5

36. Analyze.
Metrics Lifecycle Process.
Define.
Measure.
Action.
Improve or eliminate.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5

37. What to
Measure?
Critical Activity Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Positions
Identified
85 77 68 93
Resumes Sent 62 53 42 55
Phone Calls Out 121 94 73 87
Phone Calls In 26 38 46 29
Phone Interviews 12 15 9 14
Face to Face
Interviews
2 4 5 3
2nd Interviews 3 3 4 2

38. What to
Measure?
SME Activity Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
LI Groups Joined 12 17 9 13
LI Group
Contributions
15 23 18 32
SME Portfolio Posted 3 2 4 1
LI & Twitter Articles 21 32 29 18
LI & Twitter Likes 18 24 31 22
N/W Events 3 2 5 3
Strategic Meetings 4 3 5 4

39. Definition:
The act of process
of improving.
Enhanced value or
excellence.
Step 3: Improvement.

40. Make adjustments
the way you would
in changing up
your golf swing.
Analyze your “golf
swings” and make
corrections when you
‘hook’, ‘slice’, ‘top the
ball’, or miss entirely.

41. BIG MISTAKE!
Successful people at work, improve.
These same people perform a job search and fail
to improve. Or they do so on an inconsistent
basis.
Failing to improve consistently (i.e. daily and
weekly) means repeating the same mistakes
repeatedly, adding significant time to the job
search timeline.
A job search is a puzzle. Making all the pieces
fit together takes strategy, planning, and
preparation---but most of all---improvement.

42. Critical and SME Activity Must Evolve!

43. Another way to look at it.

44. Critical and SME Activity Must Evolve!

45. Create Change Daily/Weekly!

46. Act.
Plan.
Do.
Study.
•DO•STUDY
•PLAN•ACT
What
changes are
to be made?
Objective.
What.
When.
How. Data
Collection.
Execute
plan.
Document
result.
Record
data.
Analyze
data.
Summarize
what
learned.
(start)

47. Stephen
Covey on
Time
Mgmt.

48. Definition:
Willingness to
accept
responsibility.
To account for
ones actions.
Step 4: Accountability.

50. BIG MISTAKE---NO
ACCOUNTABILITY!
Successful people at work are accountable.
These same people perform a job search and
fail to be accountable.
Not being accountable means not taking
ownership nor assuming responsibility.
Accountability is the glue that bonds all the
other pieces of the job search puzzle together.

51. Accountability
forces you to live in
a circle.
There are no
corners to hide in.

52. Phone Interviews: Per day/week/month.
Accountability=GOALS.
Phone activity: Calls out/Calls in/Total time on phone.
Email activity: Emails out/Emails in/Total time emailing.
Face to Face Interviews: Per day/week/month.
2nd Interview Conversions: Per day/week/month.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5

53. Accountability Keeps You Healthy!

54. Accountability Keeps You Moving!

55. Accountability Keeps You in Balance!

56. Accountability Keeps You Evolving!

57. Accountability Keeps You On Schedule!

58. Accountability Helps You Navigate!

59. Accountability Keeps You On Course!

60. Accountability Drives Ideas!

61. Accountability Saves Energy!

62. Accountability
prevents work
from piling up!
It keeps your
output at a
consistently
high level.

63. Linda
Galindo,
Author
“The 85%
Solutions:
How Personal
Accountability
Guarantees
Success”.
1) Are you responsible whether the results are good
or bad? You have to decide to own the results
completely, no matter the outcome. No excuses.
2) Do you recognize your own power? You alone
have responsibility for managing your career. You
can’t give that away unless you want to.
3) What are your expectations? What do you expect
of others? Of yourself? Clarify with yourself and
others what you expect. Ask questions to make
sure you understand situations and avoid
misunderstandings.

64. Linda
Galindo,
Author
“The 85%
Solutions:
How Personal
Accountability
Guarantees
Success”.
4) Are you dealing with the present? Let go of past
annoyances or angers or regrets. You can’t change the past,
so it doesn’t matter what “should” have happened.
Worrying about who to blame or longing for what “could
have been” is a waste of time and energy. Instead, focus on
the present and how you want to react.
5) Do you always tell the truth? No one is perfect, but
trying to cover up a mistake only makes it worse. Besides,
when you lie you don’t really fool anyone – including
yourself.
6) Are you policing yourself? “Personal accountability is a
commitment. It’s ‘I’ messages. It’s saying that you want to
own the problem and move forward,” Galindo says.

65. Develop a form or
spreadsheet to
determine your
areas of
commitment and
responsibility and
make adjustments
based on your
performance in
these areas.

66. Accountability Groups: Drives Ownership.

67. Definition:
Learning: The acquisition of
knowledge or skills through
experience, study, or by
being taught.
Relevancy: Having
significance. Being
pertinent. Establishing
current state knowledge.
Step 5: Learn New Things.
Demonstrate Relevancy.

74. Consistent. Reading.
Daily.

75. Listening is the new
‘reading’.
www.audible.com

76. Learn to use new tools!
www.jibberjobber.com

77. Learn to PERFORM!!!
https://zapier.com/blog/best-
pomodoro-apps/

78. Become a career
NINJA!!!
www.mindtools.com

79. Learn PLANNING excellence!
www.amazon.com
The Panda Planner
At-A-Glance Planner
The Simple Elephant
Passion Planner
Weekly Success & Life Planner
Deluxe Law of Attraction Planner
The Ultimate Agenda & Daily Planner
The Self Journal
Bloom Daily Planners

93. Greg David
Laka & Company
www.laka.com
312-528-9107
greg.david@laka.com
Copyright 2012