Not Throwing Away Your Shot
A successful job search has many factors that are both in and out of your control. However, the one factor your have complete control over is being ready when opportunity arises. This is perhaps the most imporant factor in the success of your job search.
What does being ready mean? It means having your resume, cover letter, and interview skills ready *before* the right job presents itself. All too often, I get a resume inquiry from a prospective client who just found a job they really want and the application deadline is in 2 days. Or a prospective client met someone who unexpectedly notified them of a job opening and asked the job seeker to email their resume over asap. It always pains me to let these poor clients know that I can't help them within their stated timeframe; resumes take time to create and having a resume crafted in haste is just as bad as not having one at all.
If you're considering starting a job search, contact me before you're ready to start. You should contact me in the sweet spot between "I think I'm ready to leave" and "Oh god get me out of this place." You know the feeling: when your brain is telling you maybe you've accomplished all you can at your current organization; maybe you see no opportunities for new roles at the company; maybe you're starting to resent your coworkers, bosses, or clients; maybe you see your friends landing new jobs with impressive salary increases and you're starting to realize you're worth more than you're currently being paid. That's the time to reach out, when the idea of beginning your job search is just a little seed planted in your brain. Of course you're welcome to reach out to me at any point but I find that clients are the most relaxed, clear-headed, fully present, and most importantly, not desperate when they contact me *before* they wake up hating their jobs every morning.
Being ready for any opportunity at any time is crucial to your success. Imagine that you've already finalized your new resume and have completed the interview training. All of your accomplishments and interview talking points are fresh in your mind. Your final resume draft is saved on your phone. Imagine that you're at a party and not even thinking about your job search as you start talking to an aquaintance who asks you what you do for a living. You tell them you're in marketing and you've been with the company for three years and you're thinking about finding something new. Your new acquaintance then says "I'm in marketing too! Actually we're looking for a new account director. Send me your resume tomorrow and I'll pass it along." Suddently, this conversation has shifted from party talk to a pre-interview. Now you can casually mention some of the impressive things you've accomplished at your current job (since you know your interview talking points). In the morning, you wake up and email them your resume first thing becuase it's already final and you didn't need to update it or edit it at all. Think about how great that will feel for you and also think about how prepared and polished you'll be in the eyes of the hiring manager!
Beginning a job search before you're dying to quit your job sets you up for success because you're dealing from a position of strength; you're not desperate to quit a bad situation, which means you won't accept a new role in haste just to land something new. Instead, you'll carefully assess the opportunities presented to you and make a decision from a place of abundance rather than scarcity. And you'll be completely ready when the right opportunity presents itself.