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- Donna Shannon has been teaching job-searching classes and career-coaching people since 2004.
- She advises starting a job search by defining dealbreakers and researching salary ranges online.
- Once you know what you want, ensure your résumé is set and remember the process can be long.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Donna Shannon, a master career director from Denver. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm a professional career coach, and I've been teaching job-searching classes and coaching people since January 2004.
Before this, I was in human resources and recruiting, so much of my teaching is based on real-world practical strategies that employers use.
Mariah Ehlert Photography
Many people rethink their careers or industries at the end of the year. If you plan to search for a new job in January, consider these tips to make the process smoother and find your perfect fit.
Define your dealbreakers
A title isn't a dealbreaker, but what you do in your role can be. Define what would be acceptable but not ideal, then decide what your dealbreakers are. Identifying these helps you piece together your dream job.
A classic example of this is salary ranges. Consider a range when you think about your dream salary so you're not limiting yourself.
Think about the benefits, too. I see many people pushing for remote or hybrid jobs right now, but people need to get real with themselves because there's so much competition for remote positions.
If you find what seems like a dream job, is a hybrid or in-office schedule a dealbreaker? Fewer people want to go into the office, so flexibility offers more opportunities.
Research appropriate salaries online, and don't be afraid to ask for a high figure
My two favorite sources for salary research are Salary.com and Payscale. Both websites have done analysis based on title, experience level and education, and ZIP code.
Those sites give you a more realistic picture than websites where people self-report their salaries. You have to take those with a grain of salt because people who review companies are usually unhappy with them.
I recently coached a woman who was transitioning into the private-healthcare space as an executive. A startup she'd interviewed for kept asking her for salary expectations, and she had no idea what to say.
We researched a reasonable salary for her, setting a dealbreaker figure at the low end and expanding it to a range she would be comfortable asking for. In the end, she gave the high-end figure of $400,000 — almost double what she had been making in her previous role.
They said yes because they had already identified her as the right fit and asked her to relocate to San Francisco.
Ask yourself the 4 L's
One of my favorite exercises to give people is what I call the four L's. Here, we think about what they do all day in their jobs and rate each task in one of the four L categories: Do you love it, like it, live with it, or loathe it?
This exercise helps to stop people from selling themselves on a job they won't be happy in. I was working with one recent graduate who wanted to get a job in sports and was considering a paid internship program at a major sports organization.
When he did his four L categories, he decided he loved working with people one-on-one, helping them reach their goals, and doing creative things such as marketing and video. He hated being on the phone cold-calling people all day.
That's exactly what this job was. You had to grind on the phone for three to six months to earn your spot in sales and then transfer over to marketing. I told him he'd be miserable if he took this job.
In the end, we used this exercise to make working in sports his goal in the next three to five years.
Know cover letters are less important than they used to be
Since the advent of ChatGPT, the importance of cover letters seems to have gone down because they can be written using AI. There's even a movement to dismiss them in recruiting.
Right now, most places still want a cover letter, even if they're not as valued as they used to be, so I recommend writing a short one addressed to the hiring manager, rather than the HR department.
I recommend using Jobscan to help nail keywords.
Get your résumé done ASAP
If you want a résumé that doesn't sound like a computer, you either need to insert your personality or hire somebody who can help you do that, which I highly recommend.
If you can get your résumé done before January, do it, because many people make it their New Year's resolution to look for a new job. This is especially true if you're going to get help from a professional writer.
Résumé writers are most in demand in January and February, so you'll likely get pushed back in their schedules, meaning it may take several weeks to get your résumé written and ready to go.
Be prepared to spend months on your job search
In January, many people get starry-eyed and think that if they start applying for jobs, they'll be in a new position by February.
That's not how recruiting cycles work. When you apply for a position, it takes HR two to three weeks to sort through all the applications — before starting first-round interviews.
If you're applying at a large corporation or for an in-demand job or a government position, it's going to take a while. Most job searches last three to nine months, so prepare for this timeline.