If you’re already job hunting, you’re probably already sending out resumes and cover letters, checking job boards, and maybe attending an interview or two. If you’d like to add some zing to your search and increase your chances of an offer, here are twelve projects that may help you in your quest.

Day One: Describe Your Dream Job in 30 Seconds or Less.

Some people call this their “elevator speech.” It’s a 30-second “commercial” in which you explain what you do and what position you’re looking for. The basic idea is that if you run into somebody who might be able to help you locate the job opportunity you’re hoping for, you’ll be able to succinctly describe the job you want and “sell” you skill set well enough that listeners will understand what job you’d like and want to help you get it.

The 30-second speech is also great to help people in your network—including friends and family—to keep their eyes and ears open for job opportunities for you. They’ll be much more helpful if they fully understand what you’re looking for!

Of course, the trick to the 30-second speech is that you must first figure out what kind of job you want. Sit down with your computer or a clean sheet of paper, and really hammer out your 30-second speech. It may help to look at job postings of positions that appeal to you. Practice your speech until you know it by heart. Then share it with as many people as possible.

Day Two: Analyze the Job Postings.

Of course, if you’re in the middle of a job search, you’ve been looking at job postings all along. You read them to see if it’s a job you want, and to determine whether or not you’re qualified. But have you really stopped to think about the job posting from the hiring manager’s point of view?

Spend some quality time with job postings for jobs that you’d really like to have. Write down each qualification that is included in the job posting, as well as qualifications that you believe the hiring manager would like to see in an applicant that may have been left out of the posting. Then, next to each qualification, brainstorm about all of the skills and experiences you have that are responsive to those qualifications. Finally, make certain that each and every one of the skills and experiences you listed are included in your resume.

Day Three: Hunt for Missing Skills.

During Day Two, you may have found a few qualifications hiring managers in your industry like to see, that you may not have. Spend some time looking at books, online classes, or certification courses that may help you fill in the gaps. Remember that you may not need to take an expensive class to obtain a skill. Does the hiring manager want you to be proficient in PowerPoint? You may not need a class—you may just need a book from your library and some time getting comfortable with the software, or a kind friend with experience and a willingness to teach. Make plans today to learn a new skill, put it on your calendar, and plan to stick to it.

Day Four: Spend Quality Time With Your Resume.

If you’ve been job-hunting for a long time, it’s time to look at your resume again with fresh eyes. Make sure that none of the skills you brainstormed about on Day Two have been left out, and add any new skills you’ve acquired since the last time your resume was updated.

It’s best to tailor your resume and cover letter to each job for which you apply, but time constraints may not allow you to do this. The second best option is to make sure that you have a separate resume for each kind of job you may want. For instance, if you are looking for paralegal jobs but are also open to office manager positions, you should have at least two resumes: one that plays up your paralegal skills, and one that emphasizes your managerial expertise. The more focused and tailored your resume is, the better your chances of landing an interview.

If possible, have a good friend review your resume while pretending to be a hiring manager. They may find typos that you’ve missed, or they may recommend re-phrasing a job description to sound more positive. Polish your resume until it shines.

Day Five: Revisit Your Cover Letter.

After spending quality time with your resume on Day Four, it’s time to give your standard cover letter the same treatment on Day Five. Again, it’s best to tailor your cover letter as much as possible to each individual job, but if you must use a standard cover letter, make sure it’s as positive and focused as possible for the type of job you want.

Day Six: Send Your Resume to the Employer You’ve Been Avoiding.

You know the one: almost everybody has at least one employer they’d love to work for, but they don’t send their resume for fear of rejection. Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that you’ll never know until you try. But more importantly, this avoidance can be a huge road block to your job search. You may feel that you should not send out resumes to anyone else until you’ve sent one to the dream employer—so you might send out far fewer than you should. Get that scary resume out the door, cross your fingers, and then get on with your search.

Day Seven: Prepare Your Resume for Online Submission.

Another roadblock to a successful job search is the idea that an application may be too much work. This can come up when you’re using an online application or applying to an employer who insists that your resume be included in the body of an email. Fixing the formatting after turning your Word document into a text file can be a nightmare, unless you’ve got it finished and ready to go ahead of time. At the bottom of this page, you’ll find a link to an article about how to prepare your resume for submission online.

Day Eight: Set Up Automatic Job Searches.

One of the most time-consuming parts of a job search is looking for jobs to apply to. However, Monster and other job boards have automatic searches that will email you the results on a daily basis. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also troll job boards and check the local paper, but an automatic search can help you make sure you don’t overlook a great opportunity just because you don’t have time to search a board one day.

Day Nine: Get in Touch With Your Network.

We all get behind in our correspondence from time to time, but a job search is no time to let acquaintances slip away. Call up the people you haven’t spoken with in awhile, including friends, family, former co-workers, and anyone else you know who might be able to help you out. Be brave and ask people who they know that might be able to help you. After all, if your friend can’t find you a job, the friend of a friend just might.

Day Ten: Schedule an Informational Interview.

An informational interview is an appointment with a knowledgeable person in your industry who can help you understand industry trends and give you the low-down on the employers in the industry. These are an especially useful tool for people fresh out of school or beginning a new career. If you contacted your network on Day Nine, chances are that at least one person said that they know someone who works in your desired industry, but their company isn’t hiring right now. Tell them that’s just fine—you’d still like to take that person to lunch to get more information about the career. Most people will say yes.

Remember that it is never polite to ask someone for a job during an informational interview—the idea is to understand better what the industry is all about and what hiring managers in your field are looking for. But if the person you meet with really likes you, they will keep their eyes open for positions that might not be public knowledge, and they will pass along your resume accordingly.

Day Eleven: Practice Interviewing.

Sit down with a kind friend who is familiar with your industry and ask them to pretend to be a hiring manager. They should question you as a hiring manager would, asking standard interview questions as well as harder questions (for instance, they should ask about gaps in employment history, hopping from job to job, being fired, or anything else in your employment history that would need to be addressed in an interview.). Practice your answers, and get your friend’s input about whether a hiring manager would be persuaded to hire you based on your answers. Be sure to thank your friend for their time!

Day Twelve: Relax.

A job search can be a trying experience, and it’s easy to let rejection get you down. For just one day, spend some time doing something nice for yourself—read a good book, take a long hot bath, take a long walk, or just turn off the ringer on your phone and spend some time curled up with your favorite movie. If you remember to take time for yourself, you’ll be able to return to your job search refreshed and ready to give it your all.



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