Some people go into interviews and wing it. Others prepare ahead of time. Usually this includes researching the company and planning responses for commonly asked interview questions.

Questions like “what is your management style?” and “where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

But, there’s one key question they often don’t prepare to answer.

“Why do you want to work here?”

When I was recruiting, I always asked candidates if they knew anything about the company. The smart ones would tell me a few things they learned while researching the company. Things they liked, that made them want to work there.

The unprepared would say “no” and leave it at that.

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You never know when you’ll find yourself unexpectedly out of work. It’s happened to me more than once.

I had a variety of full-time jobs while earning my BA. I’ll never forget the day I lost the job that paid all my bills, including rent. Since I was the company’s bookkeeper, I knew the business was struggling.,

But when they gathered the staff and told us they were closing the next day, I was stunned. Each of us would receive a few days of pay.

I quickly landed a restaurant gig, but other employees, some married with kids, weren’t so lucky.

The average severance is 1 or 2 weeks for each year worked. If you’ve been there for 5 years that’s 5 to 10 weeks.

In September, however, 34.5% of the unemployed had been out of work for 27 weeks or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation.

While you can’t predict the future, you can take steps to shorten your job search if you do find yourself suddenly unemployed.

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These are extraordinarily difficult times. Unemployment is climbing. People on furlough wonder if they’ll be returning to work.  Shutdowns across the country make it challenging to look for a job.

Despite everything, this is not the time to stop looking for a new job. The job market has changed dramatically, but jobs are still out there. Employers are hiring. There are steps you can take to move your job search forward.

Here are 10 job search strategies that work. But reading this list isn’t enough. You need to act. You can’t do all of them today, but you can get started.

#1 Make a list of your target employers, companies where you would most like to work. Set up Google alerts to help you follow them in the news. Start contacting family, friends, former colleagues, etc. to see if they know anyone who works for one, or more, of your top employers.

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In our competitive job market, many candidates are competing for each position. There is only one winner and there’s no prize for second place.

Everyone looking for a job has heard that it’s important to send a thank you note. But the percentage who follow through is small.

That means, sending a thank you note is a sure way to stand out in a positive way.

It’s one of the quickest, and easiest, ways to get an employer’s attention. To keep you top-of-mind once the interview is over.

Here are 5 ways to make sure you continue to be remembered in a good way.

#1 Act Fast

Send a thank you ASAP. Try to email a note as soon as you can. Have a thank you template that you can revise as needed depending on the specific job interview.  Unless your handwriting is illegible you might want to follow up with a handwritten note as well. When was the last time you received anything besides a business letter in the office mail?

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We all know that networking is one of our most powerful business tools. One of the things most of us forget is to continually nurture our network even when things are going well. The holiday season is a great time to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

Why are the holidays so great? When do you have a better opportunity to rekindle relationships? This is the perfect time of the year to get back in touch with people just to find out how they are doing. Make sure you take the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family – to do a little holiday networking.

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