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Job hunting; a full-time job

June 07, 2012

New job hunting can, and should, be a full-time job in itself. Since leaving G4S and my old companies’ excellent offices for the last time as an employee following a corporate restructuring which eliminated my role, I have made a point to ‘go to work’ everyday, well most days anyway. It is a great discipline I would recommend to all fellow job seekers.

I am fortunate to have a home office, so I use it just as I would a corporate office. Except I didn’t often have the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Deep Purple, John Coltrane or Miles Davis at work with me then. If you are not so lucky to have a home office where you can be separated from domesticity, I recommend getting out of the home as much as possible. Make your calls and emails from cafes, bars or hotels – whatever and wherever is easiest and best for you. Just be somewhere other than sitting at home waiting for the call.

This regime can and probably should include time spent playing, whether sport or gym or something less structured but energetic. This can include time off to read and think. I’m currently catching up on a lot of reading, some business, some political, some professional and some just for relaxation. That’s all OK too. The point is to give purpose and structure to your days. It fights the temptation to behave like you are on an extended holiday, although that is tough when the sun is shining as my unfashionable tan will testify. I’ve been gardening, honest!

The worst thing is to think that your new, hopefully temporary, life-style without the ’9-5′, or more accurately 7-9 and 24/7 demands of being in work, means that you can lie-in or watch daytime TV. Job seeking is a serious business and needs your full attention. I confess to regular dog-walking and the (very) occasional cross-country run, when I’m at home. And I spend some of my time checking out social networking sites and writing blogs like this. But the point is to create a professional regime and if possible environment. The best thing is to dress to kill.

My former Microsoft-days colleague, consultant, mentor and friend, Mark Jeffries the author of several books and speeches on related subjects among many others, advocates dressing the part as well. If you are job-seeking and working from home, Mark recommends dressing for work. Don’t sit around in dressing gown or gardening gear just because you can. Dress for work. I agree with Mark, although I am typing this wearing t-shirt and jeans, but hey that’s de rigueur working hours dress code at my old Microsoft office. It’s just a matter of getting into the right mind-set. If you dress right, you feel right.

This applies most directly to office based workers, but the thought is the same whatever the environment. In fact these days most professionals who appear to be office based aren’t often tied to their desks, courtesy of flexible and mobile working practices afforded by the technology of seamless connectivity. Being in an office state of mind need not necessarily mean that you are physically ‘in the office’, or factory, but simply that you are not at home.

I would be really interested to hear the experiences of other people on this subject.

Mike Love is a corporate communications professional and a former political campaign manager.  If you'd like to comment contact us or tweet @mikelovesmash and @birchwoodknight.  You can also keep up with Mike's blog the reality gap.