So you’ve decided that your current employer isn’t your long term home and that your career progression would be best served elsewhere. Now it doesn’t matter if you have to leave or have some time to look for the best job you need to understand the market and the criteria you should use to determine which jobs to pursue and which to leave alone. While that sounds easy, or obvious, the truth is that most people aren’t great natural (as in trained) decision makers and need to be coached to truly understand their options and which ones will assist them in moving their career forward along their desired path. So understanding how your search criteria fit these three parameters is critical to getting your next job.

• Are you marketable?

This consists of both a large number of companies throughout your geographical search area who require your skills and that your skills are also in demand.

• Are you flexible?

Flexibility in a job search includes function (various positions/career directions), Title (don’t get hung up on this), Salary (don’t pick a number out of the sky & do understand that different companies have different ranges for the same work), work environment/industry (please make it a company by company decision) and finally relocation (if you only want local you better be much more flexible in every other area-even if your in a major market).

• Are you realistic about the outcome?

You may be marketable and you may be flexible, but if you’re not realistic, then you’re going to be sitting right where you are now in 3/6/9 months. Remember that nobody gets everything they want so make sure you know what’s truly important and focus on those criterions.

So now that you understand where you stand in your market is only half the battle. Now you must apply this information to your job search. Unfortunately, more often than not candidates ignore these factors and end up wasting their time (& vacation) interviewing on jobs that aren’t truly a match or choose not to pursue the best options because they aren’t “perfect”. So know if you’re in demand, know what you want, but be flexible, and finally be realistic as to what is achievable in your search and you’ll most likely find the best job for you within your constraints.

Finally, a good recruiter will discuss all of these topics with you, educate you on where you’re at in the market and make recommendations as to a course of action. So if you find yourself not getting this type of information from your recruiter I’d suggest you go find a new one with the market experience and willingness to tell it like it is.