{"id":6035,"date":"2023-02-24T09:33:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T14:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/?p=6035"},"modified":"2026-10-26T10:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T14:25:19","slug":"secret-ingredient-to-a-proactive-job-search-target-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/secret-ingredient-to-a-proactive-job-search-target-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Ingredient to a Proactive Job Search: Target List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What is a target list?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A target list is a focused list of companies you\u2019d like to work for, whether or not they have an opening right now. It is your strategic roadmap for networking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why it works: understand the job cycle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A job opens for one or more of these reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unexpected: Sally gives her two weeks\u2019 notice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expected: Jeff is being promoted to supervisor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Growth: The company just won a new client.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Often, the people in the know hear about these changes before a job is ever posted. People prefer to hire people that have been referred or recommended. If you\u2019ve already connected with someone at the company, you have a better chance of hearing about an opening early due to this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Targeting is a strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a tough job market, you need every advantage you can get. Being intentional is one of them. A larger target list means you have a better chance of being in the right place at the right time. A proactive job search means you doing everything you can to increase your odds in a competitive field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many job seekers try to put networking first. You need to build first, connect second. Doing it in this order keeps your networking intentional rather than random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aim for a focused target list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Your list won&#8217;t be perfect, and that&#8217;s okay. As you do your research, companies may come off your list and that is what is supposed to happen. It means you are doing it right.  If you haven&#8217;t created a target list, start now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a target list? A target list is a focused list of companies you\u2019d like to work for, whether or not they have an opening right now. It is your strategic roadmap for networking. Why it works: understand the job cycle A job opens for one or more of these reasons: Often, the people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,28],"tags":[31,71],"class_list":["post-6035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-blog","tag-job-search","tag-target-list"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6035"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15658,"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6035\/revisions\/15658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.newhouse.syr.edu\/cdc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}