Finding the next job can be a challenging process, and what often holds people up is not knowing what they want to do. As a career coach, I work through these issues with clients all the time, and rely on a number of techniques to help them identify the right job paths. Here are some of the most popular ones I use with my clients.

LinkedIn Mapping

My friend Jeremy has a great technique which I’ll call LinkedIn mapping. Basically, start with your college, find people you are interested in, and look at what they are doing and the path they took to get there. If it is appealing to you, then perhaps you can learn something from it if you want to take that path. Furthermore, since you share a commonality (your school) it is also a great reason to reach out to them for an informational interview.

Lookalike Mapping

Another way to figure out your options is to see what people who are similar to you have gone on to do after leaving your company, or a company similar to yours.

• Someone in the exact same role as you
• Someone in a similar role at a different company
• Someone who has the same background as you (ex: education, work experience)

I suggest using your connections or LinkedIn to find map these out. If you can, talk to them to understand what motivated them to find the new role and company they have, what other options or alternatives they considered, and what challenges or roadblocks they encountered.

Recommended Jobs

Another way to do this is to look at Jobs You May Be INterested in On LinkedIn. LinkedIn uses some machine learning and AI techniques to recommend you jobs based on your experience as well as jobs you tend to browse and view. To do this

• Go to www.linkedin.com/jobs
• Go to Jobs You May Be Interested in
• Start checking out jobs

While you are at it, create a jobs notification to send to your email address so you can be notified about future job postings that are relevant. Also consider doing the same when you set up profiles on Indeed and Glassdoor.

Let The Jobs Come to You

One way to figure out what you are worth and what value you bring is to see who wants to talk to you. You can do this by working with a headhunter/recruiting firm who can help place you into roles. Additionally, you can also use LinkedIn’s I’m looking feature, which when turned on, makes it known to recruiters that you are open to being contacted for a role. Pro Tip:Before you do this I would make sure to check the privacy settings.

A quick note

Everyone’s career is truly unique, and while looking at the paths of people who have gone before you is a really great technique you should make sure that you are trying to find a path that aligns to your own goals and objectives, and not someone else’s. My advice is to use this to help give you a spectrum of what is out there, and to use it as a guide to help you identify your unique path. Some if it may overlap with others, but some of it will be unique to you, and I do believe that you’ll be happiest and most fulfilled when you’re doing what is best for you.