Monthly Archives: July 2011

Your Hearing Is Bad

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Most of us hear what we want to hear.  There seems to be so many reasons for this it that I can explain.  Job seekers are notorious for hearing what they want and not getting all the facts.  One of the main reasons for this is because job seekers are looking for what works and works well.  They don’t like to feel like they are wasting their time.  An example of this is when a job seeker hears another person found a job using a certain job board, the job seeker runs out and checks out the new board.  Because they don’t know all the details the job seeker is hopeful this new resource will be the right one for them.  What they don’t do is ask them the details of how it worked, how did their experience fit the job they were applying for, and what else helped to influence the decision maker; all these other important questions reveal what really happened.

News outlets are also bad places to take guidance from on the job search.  If there is a story to be told about what is broken in our world, the new outlets are the first dogs on the block.  Ignore what you hear from them on how difficult things are.  Ignoring them allows you to focus on you specific situation and location.  You are not looking for a turnaround or a positive report aggregating positive jobbing news, you are looking for what others are not finding.

Ignore the bad and look for the good.  You will find it.  You will be much happier too.

Let’s Get Started!

Jeff

Job Search Tips

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Here is a part of a program I give on Job Searching Tips:  Job searching can be a very uncomfortable activity.  It can take a very long time, require you to do things you hate doing or are scared to do and it can push you out of your comfort zone rather abruptly.  We all like to be comfortable.  It is more enjoyable to engage in activities that are easy or “normal” for us.  These statements are probably more for the introverts of the world.  At last check that was probably 70% of the world’s population.  Many people have introverted tendencies and prefer controlling their environment and not just dive in and let the river of life take them away.

Your comfort level is going to be shaken at its core from the very start of a job search.  You are just going to have to get over it.  Being this blunt is important because one of the greatest stumbling blocks in a job search is that a job seeker is not willing to do things that force them into an uncomfortable situation.  Comfort is not your friend in this situation and the sooner you realize it the quicker you
will find the right opportunity.

Many times the feeling of comfort comes from the walls you have built around you.  These walls include the people you choose to be around, the environments you choose to work in as well as many preconceived feelings you have put together from the various experiences you have had in your life.  If you dig down into your personal comfort zones and truly unravel the details you will see that a change might not be so bad.  You have changed a lot over your life but probably just cannot see it because it was subtle or out of necessity.  Most people “naturally” lean towards what appears to be easy to do but in order to conduct an effective job search you will need to change-up what activities you are doing.

So, from the bucket of job search tips one thing to keep in mind is maybe you need to start looking for ways to make a change in your life.  Start out with small things then look at bigger and bigger things until you begin to enjoy and even embrace change.  It might take a few months or even years but I can guarantee you will be better for it.  A job search is tough from the get go.  Finding new tips on how to make it less challenging is important.  This tip is a life long one and will help you as you are looking for a new job.

Let’s Get Started!

Jeff

How To Get A Job

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There are so many ways to look for a new job.  If you ask 10 people how they found their last job you will realize that every person’s experience with their own job search had many ups and downs as well as many moving parts.  The people you ask might not even realize how many parts were moving behind the scenes on their behalf.  The stories are amazing and you should ask and find out for yourself.  How to get a job is a quest that can be really tough but at the end is a wonderful prize; most of the time.

Think back to your own past job searches.  Recount the details and explore why they picked you and what pieces in the puzzle were so crucial.  You might find some similarities but each time there was something or someone who was part of the process and you could not have anticipated how their influence or your actions swayed the pendulum in your favor.

Characteristics of the best job seekers and answer the question:  “How to get a job?”:

The best job seekers have a few things in common.  The first is they don’t have a lot of “yellow flags”.  Yellow flags are small areas in your background, your presentation or the hiring team’s prejudices that work against you and suggest caution to the hiring manager.  Yellow flags are the little things that can add up to a big red flag and derail your candidacy.  These yellow flags are part of what makes up a “gut feeling” someone has of you.  These might include spelling mistakes on your resume, wrinkles on your clothes, a hole in your experience, a statement out of the blue you made, an email response that might be taken wrong or even your nationality.  Some are within your control and others are not.  Minimizing your “yellow flags” will maximize your chances.

Another characteristic of the best job seekers is they are flexible.  Being flexible allows the job seeker to handle the ups and downs, the bumps in the road along the way and learn from them.  We all know life is not always fair.  Learning from your job search experience will greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to find a new job.  Trying multiple activities to assess what works for you is important.  Being flexible and willing to try different approaches and not give up will help speed up the process.

Another important characteristic of the successful job seeker is they know who they are or at least they appear to know.  This is very important because it speaks to the confidence you portray at every stage of your job search.  Don’t confuse confidence with aggressiveness or arrogant.  Confidence is more of a feeling you portray telling everyone around you that you are comfortable in your own shoes, you understand how you fit into the overall picture and you are excited about what you can deliver in your new position.  A complete understanding of who you are and what you want to be when you grow up is not something most people realize and it changes over time.

The last main characteristic of the best job seekers is they don’t give up very easily.  There is a place in life when giving up or quitting something that is not working can do one of two things:  allow you to move on to something better or confirm you should get back into it at a better time in your life.  Quitting has its benefits.  In this case the best job seekers are the ones who can push through the toughest times.  Pushing through walls, glass ceilings, navigating troubled waters and all the other catch phrases is the goal.  Hurdles are part of anything you are going to aspire to do.  Pushing through means when a tough obstacle comes your way, you lean into it and keep moving forward even if just a few steps at a time.  Eventually you will either conquer it or get past it.

Figuring out how to get a job is not as crucial as figuring out what it takes to find that right job.

Let’s Get Started!

Jeff