Losing focus in your search?

I spoke with a candidate last week who has been active in a search since before the holidays.  Her job was eliminated before the end of the year, she took some time off for the holidays and only looked for something occasionally during the initial time off, and really started the search with gusto after the first of the year.  She had some initial success, even had a few interviews, and then the trail went cold.  She is now worried about the gap on her resume and wonders what to do next.

She admittedly lost focus and is trying to re-set her strategy.  Energy is low, the posting boards are quiet, and questions are beginning to form if it even makes sense to stay in the industry.  My advice to her was to simply re-focus and look at a few crucial things to get back on track.

1)  Re-visit your communication with prospective employers and networking contacts.  Hopefully you have kept track in some fashion of who you have reached out to.  Unless it was a negative response, perhaps it is time to send another email or make another call.  Just because a company said they didn't have any openings at the beginning of the year doesn't mean they don't know.  Perhaps someone quit since then.  Maybe an internal promotion.  Or growth occurred that means an addition to staff is necessary going into the second quarter.  You'll never know if you don't ask!

2)  Revise/update your message.  This can be really simple.  If the last time you reached out you were begging for a job or interview, this time provide some news from your end.  Something you have read recently about hiring trends.  Something you did to expand your knowledge base in your field.  Maybe even a continuing education class you attended to keep all of your licenses and designations current.  This shows you are moving forward and doing something positive in the midst of your search.

3)  Re-think what you really want to do next.  Challenge your thinking and expand your search.  Maybe not looking enough outside the box has prevented you from finding that "perfect" next career move.  Don't go too crazy here and attempt to find a position that you are not qualified at all for, but the job description sounds really cool.  Instead try and find something that will utilize your skills and professional experience, but may be slightly different than what you have done in the past.  Find people you know that have influence in these roles and companies, and try to learn more.

When things are out of focus it is important to find a balance between doing things you have done before and trying new things.  Just because something didn't work previously doesn't mean it was a bad idea.  On the other hand if you're doing the same thing over and over and it isn't working, perhaps it is time to branch out and try new things.  Either way doing nothing is not an option.  If you have lost focus and hope someone else can get you back on track you are in trouble.  You need to take the reins yourself, get focused, and go pursue something worth having!