This is a companion to The Jorbin Test.  It’s also in some ways a continuation to some other notes on job hunting for WordPress develoeprs I’ve written before, but this is much more generalized.

• Don’t wait till you hate your job and feel like it is affecting to mental health to start looking for a job.  You never know how long a search is going to take, so start having conversations and getting your name out early.  A conversation doesn’t mean you need to quit your job.
• Along those lines, if you wake up enough days in a row not looking forward to what you are going to do that day, it’s time for a change. Put another way:
  

  for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. – Steve Jobs.

• If you know someone at a company, don’t be afraid to ask them for tips, but don’t expect them to do the work for you. Lots of great places have a route they want applicants to go through and it rarely is the side door.
• Go to events. Many meetups end with a call for whoever is hiring to stand up give a 30 second blurb about what you are hiring for. Companies that sponsor conferences are often there to recruit.
• Find a confidant or two who you can chat with during the job hunting process. I have almost always had one confident that’s in technology and one that’s not to advise me.
• Follow up on all emails and offers quickly.  You don’t want to burn bridges by ignoring people.
• Know your skills and experience, but don’t let them hold you back.  A lot of times job descriptions will be written in a way that make you not feel qualified.  That might be your impostor syndrome talking.
• Leverage your network. Let people know you are looking, but try to be specific about what you are looking for. Understand what you want
• Try to have an idea of what you want most out of your next job. Both in terms of compensation, but also in terms of values and responsibilities.