7 Job Search Strategies to Use In 2023 by Mark Anthony Dyson

If you’re not strategic and intentional about achieving success in your job search in 2023, then you depend on luck. This year will look different than past years (I know, it’s said every year). As a job seeker, a job you hate can feel like a mouse with its tail in a trap. I understand why people who see the need for job change can forget all they learned about finding jobs. It takes time, some rigor, resilience, and more. I’m here to help prepare you for this journey.

If you haven’t looked for a job since the beginning of the pandemic, you’ll be surprised how much has changed:

• Video interview software used by employers is more prevalent than ever.
• Tik Toc is a real resource for recruiters and job seekers with areer advice and job announcements.
• Job scams include scammers masquerading as real companies.
• The broken relationship between employees vs. employers is a bureaucratic civil war of a different kind.
• The notable rise in layoffs while maintaining a low unemployment rate (an anomaly worth following).
• “The Great Resignation” is a normalization of job-hopping for career advancement and more pay.
• The noticeable but slow elimination of the college degree required for entry-level positions.
• The ease of finding 100% remote or hybrid jobs has significantly increased.
• Laws in California, New York, and Colorado require employers to post salary requirements on job postings.

The successful mindset and shift

It’s hard to overlook how much has changed in three years when finding work, not just for now but anticipating the next steps. Many job seekers who don’t have a linear job path will find it harder to navigate. It’s easier to say, “I can do any job,” but it’s the path with the most resistance.

The job seekers who perpetually find a stream of opportunities have many things in common.

Here are a few of them:

1. Clarity of their skills (essential and hard), value, career path, and compensation.
2. They are tied into networking channels and industry organizations and become helpful to others.
3. Perpetual learners participate in professional development at “scale.”
4. They have created a personal ecosystem that propels and thrives in any economy or job market.
5. They know the scope of their skills and their value across several industries.

Knowing these trends helps you navigate the job market.

To find the right job, one strategy won’t be enough. Just as you want to diversify investments to optimize your financial potential, you’ll want to diversify your job search strategy to optimize your choices of opportunities. Marshall Goldsmith’s book title, “What got you here won’t get you there,” is true regarding a job search done some time ago. Every industry experiences a logistical and technological disruption, while others create new pathways.

I list a few to choose one or more from below. There are sage strategies for all time, but here are a few to consider and implement in 2023:

1. Volunteering

The many layers of leveraging volunteer work are effective at every stage of career advancement, including career transitions, future-proofing, and career cushioning.  Not only it’s a career enhancer for many, but also it creates a referral and connection engine, unlike other strategies. The social nucleus often crosses ethnic, career, and purpose lines to advance a cause and share a natural connection not felt in a workplace. It appears people who found work through volunteering focused on helping people, delivered on promises and welcomed feedback.

2. Personal SEO

I’ve written articles and created podcasts about “personal SEO” and its importance in being found online. There are two small but useful strategies to try:

• If you’re active on LinkedIn and Twitter, search your name on those platforms with and without hashtags. It’s possible to find your name with “#” and not always the “@.” You might have a job requiring you to make public content for your job. Even if you’re not active on social networks, it’s good to check your name and reputation for misinformation, misrepresentation, or unwanted exposure.
• Make it a habit to check Google and other major search engines (DuckDuckGo, Bing, Brave, Yahoo) every two or three months (more often if you’re active), as your comments from social networks yield search results. If you’re helpful and informative, it could work in your favor in how your reputation is viewed.

I used Bing for this search on my name using “Mark Anthony Dyson,” including quotes. My posts showed results on page six of the search after creating a LinkedIn post.

3. Prime your “perfessional” narrative

Through the years, LinkedIn has evolved from the sole workplace, career, job search, and human resources information-sharing hub to an all-encompassing “perfessional” network. Users are sharing their professional and personal stories with sprinkles of confessionals. While this change has pros and cons, some find it the one place where their authenticity and transparency shine. It seems as if the user who practices “perfessionalism” benefits from the increased visibility (After all, that’s the name of the game, right?).

4. Always interview 

I repeatedly say, “job search is a lifestyle,” but I can’t omit how important you interview in all seasons of your career. Most people ramp up their interviews after a job separation or need to change jobs because of a bad boss. Interviewing when you are not in a middle of a transition at least once a year helps you identify industry trends to follow or training to stay marketable. If there are company layoff announcements, or you’re entertaining a change, you’ve already had some traction creating a shorter transition if needed. It’s also good to utilize informational interviews to prime your path, whether working or not.

5. Feverishly follow up during every phase

Follow-up calls are the fuel to profit in business and career building. This is a skill where there’s no room for passivity, and it’s everything aggressive. Doing it with tact and respect creates space for growth, results, and accomplishments. For job seekers, it’s about being memorable and marketable. Every stage of today’s job search requires follow-up calls and action. It’s one of the few things you can control within your ability to obtain and maintain streams of opportunities.

6. How flexible and adaptable are you?

This question is a double-edged sword, and the clearer you know what it looks like, it can favor your candidacy. Saying “yes” can make you a more palatable candidate. One question job seekers should find out: Will the employer freak out if I tell them about my second full-time job, freelance gig, or contract? You can talk to other employees in the company, but chances are they are over-employed or moonlighting on the down low.

Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to work a swing shift.

7. Address and impress by showing impact through storytelling

If you need one piece of resume advice this year, I recommend reading Donna Svei‘s article on Fast Company. Her suggestions are not just “tips and tricks.” It will inspire you to think more like an executive in your interview presentation than an expert to show capability. Although delivery and potential matter (the way most people write a resume and tell stories), they want to see the impact of what you do on your team, company, and leaders. While accomplishments matter, your results must yield a significant return for the company, team, or client instead of filling in the blank.

These are seven trends that impact how we consider and search for opportunities. I hope jobs and opportunities come to you without the pain of going through a rigorous process. But you must start somewhere; again, the idea of an ecosystem paying off takes time.