Last month I asked you to take an honest look at your Q1 job search results. If you did that work, you probably bumped into a question that stops a lot of people cold: what exactly should I be targeting?

Before I answer that, I want to talk about why this particular exercise matters so much, and not just strategically.

A job search is one of the most dysregulating experiences a professional can go through. The uncertainty alone is enough to keep your nervous system in a constant state of alert. You don't know what's coming. You don't know when it's coming. You don't know if what you're doing is working. That ambiguity creates a low-grade stress response that sits in your body whether you're conscious of it or not. It clouds your thinking. It makes you reactive instead of intentional. It makes everything feel harder than it needs to be.

This is why we build maps. This is why we make lists. This is why structure matters.

When you have a clear, organized picture of where you're headed and who you need to talk to, something shifts. Your nervous system settles. Not because the challenge goes away, but because you have something concrete to hold onto. You're not making it up as you go along. You're not waking up every morning wondering what to do next. You have a plan, and that plan becomes an anchor. It gives your brain the signal that you are in control of this process, even when the outcomes aren't in your control yet.

That's what we're building today. Not just a job search strategy. A structure that lets you operate from a grounded, clear-headed place instead of a scattered, anxious one.

A quick bit of background on why I'm so passionate about this approach. I learned this targeting methodology almost 20 years ago through a career coaching certification, and it resonated immediately because I was already doing it. As a recruiter, this is how I've operated for over 30 years. We identify the target companies, map the people inside them, and build a systematic outreach plan. In the recruiting world, this is now formally branded as talent mapping. I'm asking you to do the same thing, just from the other side of the table. You're mapping your way to the opportunities instead of waiting for them to find you.

Why Targets Come First

Most job seekers start with job postings. They scroll through LinkedIn or Indeed, see something that looks close enough, and apply. That's backwards. It's like walking into a grocery store hungry with no list. You end up grabbing whatever catches your eye and leaving without what you actually need.

Targets come before postings. Before resumes. Before networking. Because if you don't know where you're headed, every piece of effort you put in is a guess.

A target, at its simplest, has three parts: the industry or field you want to be in, the function or role you want to perform, and the geography that works for your life. Each combination of those three things is one target. You should be working two or three targets simultaneously.

Building Your Company List

Here's where most people go too small. They think of the five or six companies they already know and stop there. Genentech. Amgen. Pfizer. The big names everyone's heard of. That's not a target list.

That's a wish list.

Your job is to go wide before you go deep. For each target, you want to identify every organization where your skills could be valuable. Not just the obvious ones.

Start with the companies you know, then expand outward. The internet is your friend here. Look up industry directories, company listings from trade associations, and conference exhibitor lists. Search for industry white papers and see who's publishing and who's sponsoring the research. Look at the specific conferences where your targets gather. Look at the companies your former colleagues have landed at.

Don't limit yourself to companies with open positions. Remember what I said last month: you're identifying possible positions, not posted openings. A 200-person biotech company has roles that turn over, get created, and get funded all the time. Most of them never make it to a job board.

Think adjacent, too. If your target is drug discovery, your company list shouldn't only include pharma. Contract research organizations, biotech startups, academic medical centers, regulatory consulting firms, medical device companies doing combination products. All of these need people who understand the science and the process. Cast the net wider than feels comfortable.

For each target, aim for a list of at least 50 to 75 organizations. Across two or three targets, that gets you into the range where a real campaign becomes possible.

Mapping the People

A company list without names attached to it is just a spreadsheet. The search gets real when you start identifying the actual human beings inside those organizations who can hire you, refer you, or tell you something you need to know.

For each company on your list, you want to identify three types of people.

First, the decision makers. These are the people who would actually hire someone like you. Not HR. The hiring manager. The VP of your functional area. The director who runs the team you'd sit on. These are the people whose problems you can solve, and they're the ones with the authority to bring you in to solve them.

Second, the connectors. People inside the organization who may not hire you directly but who know everyone. They've been there a while. They understand the culture. They know which teams are growing and which ones are restructuring. A conversation with a connector can save you months of guessing.

Third, the peers. People who do what you do, or something close to it, at those organizations. They can tell you what it's actually like to work there. They can tell you what skills are valued and what gaps exist. And they can introduce you upward if the conversation goes well.

LinkedIn is your primary research tool here, but don't stop there. Look at conference speaker lists. Look at published papers and who the corresponding authors are. Look at patent filings. Look at press releases announcing new hires or promotions. All of these are breadcrumbs that lead you to real people.

From Map to Action

Once you have your companies and your people identified, you have something most job seekers never build: a plan you can measure. You know exactly who you need to reach and where they sit. That changes everything about how you spend your time.

Instead of scrolling job boards for an hour and calling it a search, you're making targeted outreach to specific people at specific organizations. You're requesting informational conversations with connectors. You're following up with decision makers after a warm introduction. Every action has a purpose because every action is aimed at a specific point on your map.

Start a simple tracking system. It doesn't need to be fancy. A spreadsheet works fine. Company name, the people you've identified, when you reached out, what happened, and what the next step is. Update it weekly. This is your campaign dashboard.

Keep it simple: each week, aim to add five new companies to your research, identify three new contacts, and initiate two new conversations. Those numbers compound fast. In a month, that's 20 new companies researched, 12 new contacts identified, and 8 real conversations started. That's a search with momentum.

The Bigger Picture

I know this feels like a lot of work. It is. But here's what I've learned coaching people through this for three decades: the ones who build the map land faster, at better companies, in roles that actually fit them. The ones who skip this step spend months in a reactive loop, applying to whatever pops up and wondering why nothing's moving.

You deserve better than a random search. You've got the skills, the experience, and the education. What you might be missing is the structure to put all of that to work in a way that actually reaches the people who need to know about you.

Build the map. Work the map. Trust the map.

If you attended my March workshop, thank you again for showing up and doing the work. If you missed it and want to explore what we covered, or if this article has you thinking about how to build your own target map, reach out to me directly at coach_tom@selfactualizedyou.com

Until next time!

Bio: Thomas Patrick Chuna, CHM, is a seasoned talent acquisition and organizational development specialist with nearly 30 years of recruiting experience across diverse verticals, including life sciences, bioinformatics, biopharma, and biotech. As Chief People Officer, he has built comprehensive hiring processes for technical and leadership roles while facilitating programs that enhance productivity, communication, and leadership effectiveness.

A certified Hiring Manager, DiSC consultant, Outplacement Consultant, and Certified Xchange Guide Facilitator, Tom specializes in helping organizations navigate change while building and developing leadership teams. He is an experienced webinar conductor and blogger on career and organizational transformation topics.