Expand beyond Plan B

We hear a lot about Plan B job searches. That’s where you go for the second-choice job if the first choice doesn’t work out.

Sometimes people work their Plans A and B simultaneously. Eventually something has to work out, they reason.

These aren’t terrible approaches, but they can be exhausting. Confusion and exhaustion may seem inescapable if you’re in a job search, but I don’t think they have to be constant companions. One way to reduce their impact is to move away from the Plan A/B concept and into a more controlled and effective process.

Let’s say you wanted to work as a technical writer on staff for a medical devices company.

AMY LINDGREN

WORKING STRATEGIES

Under a Plan A/B approach, you would try for that job for a certain number of months, then switch to your next goal, which might be to work as a contract writer. Your fallback might be to return to home health care work.

This is not a bad plan, but here’s a different model for the same worker. Let’s say this person must be employed in five months, for financial reasons.

Stage One, 3 months

» Put out feelers for a home health position, to ease finances and avoid last-minute searching. Take the first appropriate option, but stay part time, to maintain your job search focus.

» Identify five or 10 device makers you’d most like to work for, and gather information on their products and processes. Ask your network for any and all contacts in these firms.

» Begin asking contacts for informational interviews to learn more about technical writing processes in these companies and about potential openings.

» Attend as many related professional meetings as possible. Tell everyone your goal, ask for more contacts.

Evaluate your progress every month. Modify steps that aren’t working.

Stage Two, 2 months

» Continue all steps from Stage One, including part-time work.

» Broaden your list of target employers, send résumés and call to ask for meetings.

» Contact contract houses.

» Respond to appropriate posted positions on job boards.

» At the end of this stage, decide: Go full-time at the home health aide position? Take contract work if it’s available? Maintain this process longer?

Stage 3, ongoing

The job seeker continues with the income-producing work, but continues the job search as well. The effort would be limited to a few hours weekly, but that’s enough time to take a class, attend professional meetings, volunteer or otherwise build contacts.

- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecaree rservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.