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JOB SEARCH GUIDE AND PROJECT PLAN

This Job Search Project Plan is designed to help you organize and plan your job search activities. You won’t show this document
with prospective employers but can share it for feedback with people who can assist your job search with advice, connections,
references, or other forms of help.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Job Search Strategy

Weekly goals

About You: Skills & Accomplishments

Personal Elevator Pitch
Technical Skills
Interpersonal and Soft Skills
5 top career accomplishments

Overview of Target Roles & Companies

Job titles/search terms
Overview of target responsibilities
Location
Compensation
Type of company (size, industry, sector)
List of target companies

Networking Plan
Networking Tracker Link
Online groups and organizations
Local groups and organizations
Personal network
People to schedule informational interviews with

Job Search Materials

References

Job Search Strategy

You can’t get a job without interviews, and you can’t get interviews without job applications. You need to create a weekly plan for
applications and networking to be sure you are doing everything you can to create opportunities. The recommendations under each
item are the minimum you’ll need to move a job search forward. Remember: the more you do, the sooner you will find your next job!
Weekly goals
● Target # of applications per week:
Recommendation: at least 10 per week

● Target # of networking events per week:

Recommendation: at least 1 networking event per week. This includes any group event where you can meet professionals and/or
recruiters from your target field. Examples include events organized by online and local groups and organizations you identified
in the Networking Plan section of this document.

● Target # of networking conversations per week:

Recommendation: 3 conversations per week or more

Progress tracker
Use the table below to track numbers for your weekly activities. Add columns for additional weeks if necessary.

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8

Applications

Networking events

Networking
conversations

Interviews

About You: Skills & Accomplishments

This section helps you organize all of the most important information about your professional background.
Reviewing this section can help you practice telling your story to others. This is information you will discuss in interviews and include
on your resume.

Personal Elevator Pitch

Read to this article for tips on creating your own personal elevator pitch.

Technical Skills
List technical skills most relevant to the job you are seeking vs. work that you have done in the past.
● Tech skill 1 ● Tech skill 3 ● Tech skill 5
● Tech skill 2 ● Tech skill 4 ● Tech skill 6

Interpersonal and Soft Skills

List interpersonal and soft skills most relevant to the job you are seeking. Remember, employers care most about what you can do
for them, so you only need to highlight skills and experiences that are relevant to the role you’re applying for.
Watch this video for an overview of interpersonal and soft skills. Read this article for an overview of transferable skills (i.e. skills you
can take from one role to the next, even if the roles are in different industries).
● Skill 1 ● Skill 3 ● Skill 5
● Skill 2 ● Skill 4 ● Skill 6

5 top career accomplishments

List your major accomplishments relevant to the job you are seeking. Watch this video to learn how to craft powerful
accomplishment statements.

1. Accomplishment statement 1
2. Accomplishment statement 2
3. Accomplishment statement 3
4. Accomplishment statement 4
5. Accomplishment statement 5

Overview of Target Roles & Companies

In order to be effective in your job search, you need to have a clear understanding of what you’re looking for. Use the information
above to help you focus your search.

Job titles/search terms

Job titles for the same role vary from company to company. For example a Business Analyst in one company can be called an IT
Project Coordinator at another, and a Process Owner at a third. To learn all of the job titles you should use for your search, you can
review information provided within your Professional Certificate, speak with other people who completed your program, read through
job descriptions, and ask questions during informational interviews.
● Term 1 ● Term 3 ● Term 5
● Term 2 ● Term 4 ● Term 6

Overview of target responsibilities

While the same role can have different titles across different companies, people with the same job title may have very different roles
at different companies. For example, a Data Analyst might work with spreadsheets at one company, but write code in Python at
another. To understand the common responsibilities for your target role, review 10-20 different job descriptions. Then, use the space
below to record skills/responsibilities that match you well, as well as those that aren’t a good fit for you. This exercise will enable you
to understand various roles without relying too much on job titles alone.

Location
Where do you want to work geographically? If you are looking to stay where you currently live, how far are you willing to commute?
If you are considering relocation, where are you open to moving?
Compensation
What is your target compensation? You can use Glassdoor.com to look up user-reported salaries by job title, company, and
location.

Type of company (size, industry, sector)

It’s unlikely that you’ll find the perfect job where you get everything you want. Choose your top 3 most important factors when it
comes to choosing the job that’s right you. This will help you keep in mind what you’re willing to negotiate and what you’re not.
Possible factors include compensation, location, work/life balance, company type, growth opportunities, and titles):
1.
2.
3.

List of target companies

While monitoring job boards is an important part of the job search process, many open positions are not posted publicly. The only
way to discover those roles is by monitoring your target companies and networking with people working there. Start with a list of 10
companies that might be a good place for you to work. Include companies that are in the right geographic location and industry for
you, those that might be a good employer based on your research, and places where you know someone who can refer you.
● Company 1 ● Company 6
● Company 2 ● Company 7
● Company 3 ● Company 8
● Company 4 ● Company 9
● Company 5 ● Company 10

Networking Plan
Most people — up to 85% by some estimates — find their jobs through networking.
Make sure you know who you should talk to!

Networking Tracker Link

In order to help you stay on top of your networking conversations and connections, the Coursera Careers Team has put together a
template for a Networking Tracker. Access the Networking Tracker template through this link and make a copy of the document to
fill out for yourself.

Online groups and organizations

Join online networking and professional groups, as well as associations that are relevant to your search. One example of a career
group is Ladies Get Paid. An example of a professional group is the Association for Talent Development. Professional Facebook
and LinkedIn groups are great places to network.
Local groups and organizations
There are many local networking and professional groups you can join for help in your job search. An example of a job search
support group is CSIX Connect in the San Francisco Bay Area. Professional groups may include local chapters of relevant industry
organizations, such as the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association for Talent Development.

Personal network
You may already know people who can help you in your job search through advice and referrals. Often, friends who are not your
preferred industry can help by introducing you to people who are.Remember: your connections can only help you if they know about
your job search!
● Name 1 ● Name 4 ● Name 7
● Name 2 ● Name 5 ● Name 8
● Name 3 ● Name 6 ● Name 9

People to schedule informational interviews with

Informational interviews are an important part of any job search. Read this article to learn more about this important type of
networking conversation. Informational interviews provide crucial job search information and can lead to new connections, referrals,
and jobs. If you don’t have contacts you can ask for an informational interview, search LinkedIn for people who work in your desired
field or at companies that interest you. Reach out to them and ask for a 15-minute informational interview. Start off with a list of 10
names/LinkedIn profiles, and then add more names as you move through the list. Use the Application/Networking tracker to keep
track of your conversations with people.

● Name 1, job title/company ● Name 6, job title/company

● Name 2, job title/company ● Name 7, job title/company
● Name 3, job title/company ● Name 8, job title/company
● Name 4, job title/company ● Name 9, job title/company
● Name 5, job title/company ● Name 10, job title/company

Job Search Materials

Resume:

LinkedIn Profile:

Cover Letter:

Online Portfolio/Website(optional):

Github Link (optional):

References
List people who can be references for your job search. You will only need to share your references when they are requested, usually
right before an offer is extended. Always check in with the person and get their permission to list them as a reference in advance.
Make sure you have at least 3 professional references, including one person who managed/supervised you directly.

1. Reference 1 (name, relationship, email, phone)

2. Reference 2 (name, relationship, email, phone)
3. Reference 3 (name, relationship, email, phone)
4. Reference 4 (name, relationship, email, phone)
5. Reference 5 (name, relationship, email, phone)