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In my 10 plus years of experience working with Human Resources Development & Management field in Bangladesh, I have met a lot of people looking for jobs. Most of them are looking for a better pay, better environment, higher rank, different location than where they are currently posted and numerous other reasons. But one thing is common for them all – they are not very happy with their jobs / careers but at the same time they are not sure where to begin their job search.
   The last part is also true for first time job-seekers – i.e. students who are fresh graduates or even some who have passed 2-3 years ago, do not have a very good idea about how to begin or to be successful in their job search. Most come and complain to me, as I teach in a lot of universities, that all employers are looking for experience or they cannot find a job if they do not have a relative in that organization.
   So, in order to guide such job-seekers, I have put down some steps to facilitate their efforts. So, if you are one of those people – this article is addressed to YOU!
   First let me ask you – has it been a while since you planned a job search? Or maybe it’s your first time? At the outset, looking for a new job can seem like an enormous task. But if you break the job search down into simple steps, you’ll be signing that employment offer in no time.
   Use this helpful step framework to guide your job search action plan:
   
   First: Assess yourself
   The start of any good job search begins with a thorough self-assessment. Looking for a new job is a great opportunity to realign your goals—and it’s up to you to articulate exactly what those goals are.
   Start by asking yourself these questions and spend some time reflecting on the answers:
   n What are my values?
   n Deep down, what guides me as I make my decisions? Is it a need to make a difference or make big bucks, be the center of attention or help others?
   n What are my priorities and objectives for the next few years? What about five years from now?
   n What are my core strengths?
   n What provides meaning in my life? What is my purpose?
   n Where does work fit into my vision of life?
   For help with your soul-searching, take advantage of your universities career center’s self-assessment resources (if any), or look for self-assessment resources on the Internet. Participate in career center workshops or read some career-planning books, such as “The Ultimate Guide to Getting the Career You Want and What To Do Once You Have It” – by Sherrie Gong Taguchi, which includes self-assessment exercises.
   Some of you maybe wondering – when you do not even have a job – asking such ethical questions really do not mean much. But my experience has been – that people begin a job without giving much thought to how this job will satisfy their own values or priorities. As a result – after sometime on the job they get frustrated and cannot show good performance – which in turn results in not getting increments, promotions and even ultimate job-loss. So, it is important for you to think very hard at what type of a job will match with your own assessment.
   
   Second: Research your career goals
   Now that you’ve established your sense of purpose, you’ll need to do some research to keep your career dreams aligned with reality. Broadly explore industries, jobs, and organizations to generate your job options wish list.
   n Consider these questions as you research careers and industries:
   n What product or service does this industry actually offer?
   n Who are the major players and up-and-comers?
   n What are the critical success factors for a company in the industry?
   n What is the outlook and hiring potential for this industry?
   n What type of talent does the industry attract, hire, and need?
   
   While researching specific
   companies, ask yourself:
   n What differentiates this company from others in the industry?
   n What are this company’s culture, values, and priorities?
   n Who are its leaders (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer), and what do they seem to stand for?
   n How does this company treat its employees?
   n What is the company’s reputation?
   n What would it be like to work there?
   Individual company websites are a great resource for multi-national companies but not so for most local companies of Bangladesh. In such cases please try to develop a network of friends working in various companies or become members of professional bodies to get more information.
   Networking is a great way to learn about the functions, fields, companies, and geographic locations that interest you—not to mention make future job connections. Your circle of friends is a great place to begin building (or reviving) your network. Other valuable contacts include former and current co-workers, career services professionals, and alumni from your high school, undergraduate, or graduate programs, professional associations of your choice etc. See what events your career services office, student clubs, and alumni groups are planning that might provide valuable contacts or learning experiences.
   Here I would like to highlight the complaint that most youngsters make – that you cannot get a job without having a relative in the company. In some cases I would not agree as some people do get good jobs without anyone’s help but their own (with some blessings of course). But at the same time – it is a reality in Bangladesh that people in high ranks do follow unfair means in accommodating their relatives in the junior ranks within the same company. This will ultimately affect the overall performance of the organization; still the practice has not stopped.
   If you think that this is the only way you can get a job – my suggestion will be research amongst your own relatives – who are in high ranks or have a lot of influence in this society. Once you find them, try to use them in getting opportunities for jobs or at least interviews where you can show your potential. If you do not have such relatives, research amongst your father’s friends or your neighbors and try to get some advantage from them. I will always think that this is a wrong approach – but still agree to the reality of Bangladesh. I would insist that even if you do get a chance like this – please prove to the organization that you are good employee and use your work to build a career.
   
   Third: Lay out your plan.
   Narrow your job options wish list based on a realistic assessment of how you fit into the industries, organizations, and roles that interest you (now possible with all the research you’ve been doing). Determine your top priorities along with those you’ll pursue for a backup plan. As a rule of thumb, focus on a maximum of two or three industries and ten to 20 organizations. Choose another ten organizations for your backup plan.
   Sketch out the general timing of your job search based on when your top-choice industries tend to recruit. If you’re still studying, expect to dedicate as much time to your job search as you would to an entire course. Graduates and mid-career job seekers should expect to spend one to two months searching for every Tk. 10,000 of their targeted salary. For example, a job paying Tk. 100,000, could take 10 to 20 months to find. Even if this is not true in all cases – but you should be prepared for the fact that the higher the pay the more difficult it is to find the right job!
   
   Forth: Develop a self-marketing strategy
   Now the real fun begins. It’s time to market your number-one product … you! To help plan your marketing strategy, think of yourself in terms of the classic marketing 5Ps:
   
   Product:
   l What do you have to offer?
   l What key skills and attributes can you offer your “customers” (i.e., potential employers)?
   
   Price:
   l What is your value in the marketplace?
   l Do your educational background, experience, and professional strengths qualify you as a premium product—something elite—or will you need to start “discounted” to get your foot in the door of your targeted industry?
   
   Promotion:
   l What themes or messages convey what you have to offer professionally?
   l How can you make your CV more attractive to the target audience?
   
   Place (distribution):
   l How will you distribute yourself on the market?
   l Will you wait for the vacancy to be announced or be proactive in searching jobs thru other means?
   l Consider using multiple means of “delivering” yourself to potential employers. This could include on-campus recruiting events, job ads, career fairs, company websites, executive recruiters, and referrals from your network.
   
   Best of luck on your job search!
   The author is currently the Head of HR & IT at ActionAid Bangladesh. She is an HR practitioner in Bangladesh for almost 11 years working in various organizations such as BEXIMCO, Square Pharmaceuticals, Otobi, CARE Bangladesh & AAB. She is an Executive Council Member of BSHR and also takes classes at various universities such as UAP, IIUC, RRU, IRM etc. She is also a researcher for HR, ICT and Gender issues.

Director (Human Resources) Partex Group
   Survival and growth in the existing environment of unfettered competition in business and commerce depends on management’s ability to metamorphose. No longer it is possible to let things drift; supported and protected by governments, cartels or other organs of patronage. The option is to survive or surrender. To survive, modern management needs imagination and dynamism as its first principle.
   Acquiring these principles, means that every manager has to be alert, not only in doing things, but in getting things to happen. One has to anticipate and react to expected changes by doing positive things in multifarious avenues of activity. The basic difference between inertial and action is not the style or form of doing nor procedures or skills; though these do help; however it is action that counts. Inertia results more often than not in sticking to the form and procedure and not on the result that is needed. Two factors of dynamism that needs to be remembered at all times are:
   Make things to happen, with focus on results rather than procedure. Strive for activity and change beyond traditional administration which usually tends to follow procedural format while loosing track of results.
   Management has never been a passive art. It needs an activist; a catalyst of change, wherever change is indicated or anticipated. This needs skills, knowledge, capability and competence and the ability to effectively use these characteristics; that makes a management dynamic. Individual knowledge and capability is acquired through education and experience. Dynamism however needs to be acquired through intelligent observation, evaluation and judgment learned through work related activities. In the course of this process some mistakes may happen which is an acceptable risk of developing initiative and drive. Dynamic management needs to look at it in an objective manner so that mistakes are taken as leads in the learning process. A dynamic person who is an assets for dynamic management; interacts and reacts in order to make things happen. It helps to develop the person’s confidence, competence and capabilities which are the prerequisites for dynamism.
   Routine, regular repetitive work properly done, is a common thread in all activity at all levels of hierarchy. Successful dynamism looks over and beyond routine functions to react to anticipated needs and changes that the environment signals. The speed of responding to change indicators is the hallmark of dynamism. Such persons are those who dream, plan and move the organization towards new frontiers of action and achievement.
   Action oriented management values such persons, who can identify goals in line with the overall objective of organizational growth. Their motivation is to look around and pick up opportunities and prospects and progress this with positive decision making talent that is the bedrock of enterprise profitability.
   Where do such people come from? To start with they are definitely talented. To flourish however they should be honed and nurtured in a dynamic management culture that encourages extrovert thinkers and doers. More often than not, they are the products of their mentors or leaders who knowingly or unknowingly demonstrate a high standard of the principles in man management.