Is your job search proactive or merely reactive?

What does it take to get a job in this economy? Simply put to get a job in this economy you need to be proactive in your job search.

Waiting for someone to tell you about something is not giving you the competitive edge that you need to land a job.  To have a chance you need to be proactive.

To be proactive you must be actively seeking out information. Sitting back and listening for events from your local news isn’t going to get you anywhere. Local news is reactive not proactive.

For example:

If you happen to be glued to your TV for the nightly news and the job hunting segment you’re probably too late to get the job.

We say this because the local news reported a job fair that was to take place the next day in the community.  The event however required registration and was limited to 500 people.

Having know about the event, we checked out the site registration to see if it was still open, and it was not.  As usual the news should have stuck to the routine and just reported how successful it was after the fact. Mentioning how to register for an already at capacity job fair is pointless.

How did we know about the event? We found out about it by being proactive and utilizing our human network. Hands down networking is going to be your best asset when hunting for a new job.

Another great way to be proactive is to stay up to the minute through RSS Feeds. You can use RSS feeds to stay informed of changes on corporate web pages, sites that report job fairs and job postings.

Paying attention to reactive information like the local news or reading the newspaper is not going to help you find a job in the future by learning about past opportunities.