Due to the detail I am giving you on this important topic, I have divided this article into two parts for the month of November. Here is part one:

Have you been exploring alternatives to traditional job search methods? If you have, congratulations! You are on your way to greatly increasing your results and response rates!

Using non-traditional job search methods is going to do wonders for you both relative to reaching your job search goals, and in keeping up your excitement and confidence in the process.

Developing the right list of target companies is so important because done right, its going to save you a tremendous amount of time, increase your interviews and save you from the frustration of doing it wrong…which can create an illusion that the reason you are not getting enough quality interviews is because there is something wrong with you or your resume.

So here are my first two tips on how you can get started today developing your own amazing list of target companies:

Tip #1: Focus – Example A

Here is my first example for you on to demonstrate how to go about developing a good list. Let’s say you want to stay in the state of Georgia and you would like to remain in the field of Academia. Your challenge is to find the institutions potentially suited for you in your state. You need to identify where these lists of institutions are AND you need to track where the movement or growth is with these individual institutions. Your best bet is to check out your trade and association journals for these lists and late breaking news like campus growth, appropriated funds, and promotions etc… anything that might indicate growth or development and a great reason for you to connect. Start by Googling Academia+Georgia or Associations+Higher Education+Georgia

Tip#2: Focus – Example B

Perhaps you are in sales and marketing of consumer goods and you want to move into a senior sales role for the “green” market. You are open to relocating anywhere in the US. In order not to spread yourself too thin you must come up with a nice handful of portals you can use to find emerging or developed companies that specialize in your “green” market of choice. Begin by Googling green jobs+products. Are you interested in wind farms or solar? Google green jobs+wind farms or wind farms+USA. You can also try Googling wind energy+investors. These are just a few examples. Not only will you find companies and contact decision maker names this way but you will also find articles and information on companies that are growing and developing new products and services. Any and all companies that you like should make your list!

I also highly recommend using Manta.com to supplement your list building. Manta provides free company profiles & company information on US and International companies, including market research reports, business news and key contact names.

Part two will be coming up in just a couple weeks…In steps three, four and five I will be sharing with you how to create an abundant list, how to get to the decision maker and what to say when you do and what you need to know about following up!

Tags: Executive Job Search, finding ideal companies, finding target companies, hidden job market, job search tips, target job search, unadvertised job markets