You can find more information online about resumes, cover letters, applications, references, and job-search mistakes than anyone could read in a lifetime.
What I see again and again is this: job searching isn’t binary. You’re not either “employed” or “failing.”
Looking for work is a continuum, a journey with starts, stops, setbacks, and progress that isn’t always visible. Not having a job yet is not a verdict on your worth or your effort. It’s simply one point on the path toward success.
I have found that what is often needed is a tool to reassure, to reframe, and to help us move forward. A quick pause to provide a “snapshot” of where we are on this continuum, a tool to ground us and remind us that we are making progress.
It is a simple quiz that uses a scalable answer based on the job seeker’s own thoughts. While certainly subjective, comparing oneself to others isn’t the purpose. The scaling helps determine the focus of the next steps to improve, build confidence, and facilitate forward movement.
The tool or path is called, appropriately, “The Next Steps on Your Path.”
For each question, the job seeker rates themselves on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 indicating a very strong and comfortable level and 1 indicating the opposite. Each score is relative and helps indicate where the individual needs help or does not.
It is worth noting that the quiz is not simply a quick run from question 1 to 20. Each question and answer serves as a discussion point to learn about the job seeker and to gain insight into how to help them reach the next point on their path.
How to Use This Tool
- Answer each question honestly based on where you are right now. There are no right or wrong scores.
- Look for patterns, not perfection. Lower or uncertain scores often point to your most useful next steps.
- Focus on one or two areas at a time. You do not need to work on everything at once.
- Use your results to start a conversation with yourself, a career advisor, or a trusted support person.
- Revisit the questions as your situation changes. Shifting scores are a sign of progress.
Mindset, Motivation, and Readiness
#1 – Rate your desire to have a job. While seemingly obvious, trust me, it is not. Fortunately, many people rate themselves as an 8 to 10, which is great. Someone who wants a job is much easier to help than someone who is only looking for a job because their family, spouse, guilt, or social expectations are driving them. Anyone in the latter scale is much more difficult to help.
#2 – Rate your confidence in your belief that you have all the support and skills to find a job successfully. We all start and exist at different points in our employment continuum, and this question is good for helping to determine that point. A person’s willingness to accept coaching, their knowledge of their own blind spots, and their ability to move forward can be determined through the conversation that follows this question.
#3 – How confident are you in your ability to define what success looks like for your job search? Additionally, how confident are you in your ability to achieve your short-term, medium-term, and long-term employment goals? Knowing what success looks like will make creating your plan and path much easier to define.
#4 – Please rate your daily routine and motivation. Specifically, do you have a daily routine that keeps you productive and motivated? This routine helps you maintain focus and energy for your job search activities.
#5 – Rate your persistence and resilience. How well are you able to cope effectively with frustration, setbacks, or rejection? To be successful, a job seeker must strive to maintain motivation and persistence as they pursue their next employment opportunity.
#6 – How are your self-awareness and reflection skills? A key component of any job search is the ability to reduce blind spots and adjust your methods. By regularly reviewing your progress, being aware and applying lessons learned, and recognizing the constant need for improvement, you will be much more successful.
Skills, Knowledge, and Preparation
#7 – How confident are you about accessing support and accommodations? Being unemployed is a new experience for those graduating from school and an unfamiliar one for people accustomed to working; as a result, their knowledge of the resources available is quite often surprisingly limited.
#8 – Rate your ability to identify the gaps in your skills, experience, or knowledge required to achieve your goals. Recognizing and appreciating our gaps is the first step in creating a plan to address them.
#9 – Rate your ability to create tailored resumes and cover letters. “Tailored” means your applications are designed to meet the expectations of each individual employer.
#10 – How comfortable are you understanding when and how to disclose personal or accessibility needs? Do you know and feel comfortable advocating for yourself?
#11 – How confident are you in your ability to prepare, participate, and frame all of your interview answers to solve the problems of the interviewer? Interviews can be anxiety-ridden; however, with preparation, planning, and practice, you can stand out among other candidates, even if you have historically struggled with interviews.
#12 – How would you rate your ability to present yourself professionally, in person and online, as well as feeling confident in your abilities and skills when interacting with employers?
#13 – Score yourself on how you approach upgrading your skills. In today’s very competitive and constantly changing work environment, adding to your skills and abilities by pursuing micro-credentials and career-enhancing certificates to achieve your goals is another way to stand out.
Process, Structure, and Follow-Through
#14 – Rate your ability and willingness to consistently use a structured plan. (for example, The Job Seeker Playbook, as well as an application tracker) To rate the effectiveness of your process for applying for positions. This includes creating a cover letter with the correct name and position of the hiring manager, tailoring your resume, applying online or in person, following up on your application, researching for a minimum of 30 minutes for interviews, preparing for interviews, sending a thank-you email, and following up after interviews.
#15 – How active a participant are you in your career advisor meetings? Since many municipal services include free access to employment services, are you registered? Are you participating in each meeting? Are you completing the next steps? And are you providing feedback to help focus the search on what you want?
#16 – Rate your ability and willingness to follow up on your applications and interviews. By consistently tracking all job applications, including company name, position, date applied, method (online, in person, referral), and next steps, you will stand out and gain a competitive advantage over other job seekers. I recommend using a spreadsheet or chart to stay organized.
Network, Opportunity, and Growth
#17 – Since only 20–30% of available jobs are ever posted, how confident are you in your ability to reach out directly to employers about opportunities?
#18 – Rate the strength of your professional network and your ability to leverage that network to help you find your next job. By actively building and maintaining a professional network through tools like LinkedIn, people you know, volunteer groups, and other community networks, you will be able to connect with more opportunities. Please note: this part of your path relies on genuine interaction and the exchange of value.
#19 – How well do you create and manage luck? Any successful job search is more than just preparation. We all need to recognize opportunities and create the conditions for them to happen. Maintaining a proactive and positive approach to chance opportunities and being ready to embrace them is a significant factor in standing out.
#20 – Rate your ability to seek out mentors and use their advice. If you are able to seek guidance from mentors or experienced professionals, are open to their feedback, and share your own knowledge to help others, your chances of success will increase dramatically.
A Path Is Something You Walk, Not Something You Pass or Fail
If you’ve made it this far, here is the most important thing to take with you: you are not behind, you are somewhere on your path.
The questions above are not a test, and they are not a scorecard of your worth. They are a mirror. They are meant to slow the process down, replace frustration with clarity, and help you see where your energy will matter most right now. You do not need to fix everything at once. You only need to identify your next step.
This is what “The Next Steps on Your Path” is designed to do. It replaces being overwhelmed with focus. It turns vague frustration into practical conversations. It helps you move forward with intention rather than urgency. And most importantly, it reminds you that progress is happening, even when it doesn’t look or feel like it yet.
So here is the call to action: Take the quiz. Answer honestly. Sit with the results. Use them as a starting point for a real conversation, with yourself, with a career advisor, or with someone who understands that job searching is a process, not a pass/fail moment.
You don’t need a perfect resume. You don’t need to follow advice that doesn’t fit your reality.
You need a path, a place to start, and permission to take this journey one step at a time.
Your next step is waiting. The only question now is: What are you going to work on first?
Good luck,