Lauren Celano, CEO, Propel Careers wrote this blog for Bio Careers as part of her monthly contributions. To learn more about Lauren's Blogs for Bio Careers, see link: http://biocareers.com/blog/lauren-celano
How do you define your ideal role? What factors in the role or company are most important to you? Which ones are a must have vs. a nice to have? Answers to these questions will help you sort through the thousands of jobs available to uncover a handful that are a match for your interest, background and expertise.
The variety of job openings at any one time can make starting your search overwhelming. To manage this, create a checklist of preferred criteria in a role as soon as your search begins. This will help you maintain focus. Things to consider may include: the preferred responsibilities in a role, preferred title, level, reporting structure, salary, culture, management style, location, and group/team size, among others. Think carefully about what you do not want in a role as well as what you are ambivalent about. Also consider whether you want growth potential in the role, travel opportunities, management responsibility, a flexible work schedule, or benefits such as tuition assistance, a lot of vacation, or a good work/life balance. Answers to these questions matter and can dramatically impact your search.
Your list may include preferred and non-preferred responsibilities, and considerations such as, is the role customer/people facing or internally focused, is it hands on or does it only involve assessing the work of others, , is it very quantitative or qualitative, is it team based or individualized, and it is administrative, operational, or strategically focused? Does the role involve managing people, projects, budgets, or collaborations? Does it require travel or working late hours when deadlines need to be met? Is the role clearly defined or a little more fluid? Either can be fine, it is more important to know which you prefer.
To create the checklist, use a spreadsheet such as excel to organize your questions and preferences. This checklist may start small, but will grow over time as you become more and more aware of that which is truly important to you. As you read a job description, compare it to the checklist. If the job description meets what you are looking for, then apply. Otherwise, don't. Remember, every second you spend applying to roles that are not a fit for you, is time you take away from your search.
This checklist can also be used to evaluate companies that you may be interested in working for. As you identify these companies, network and try to do an informational interview with someone in the company or close to the company to determine if the culture, management style, structure, and growth potential are in line with your interests. If so, add this company to your target company list. Then when a role arises there that is a fit for you, you are ready to apply.
Throughout the job search process, your goal is to efficiently sort through the thousands of jobs listed to identify the handful which are a true match for your background and expertise. The job search checklist is a valuable tool that can teach you a lot about yourself, and help keep your search focused, and efficient. Remember time is one of the most valuable assets we all have.