|
Fundamental Truths about the
Job-hunt
Fundamental Truth #1:
There are always jobs (vacancies) out
there, waiting to be filled.
a.
Jobs are being created that have never
existed before. To be exact two million new
jobs were created in the past 12 months.
b.
Companies and employers are playing
musical chairs with the jobs that already
exist.
1.
People get promoted
2.
People retire
3.
People quit
4.
People decide to move
5.
People get injured or fall sick
6.
People die
7.
People get fired or laid off due to
downsizing, mergers, hostile takeovers.
Initially there are fewer jobs, but studies
reveal that often companies hire again within a
very short time as they realize they cut too
deeply or need people with new skills.
c.
Even during recessions, there are jobs.
The musical revolving chairs among the jobs that
already exist holds true even during a recession
or hard times.
Fundamental Truth #2: Whether you can
find these jobs or not, depends on what
job-search methods you are using. If you are
going to find a job, your job success does not
depend on a good job-market. Everything depends
on what search method you are using to find
those jobs that are out there, in good times or
bad.
Five worst ways to
find a job:
1.
Using the Internet. Technical,
computer-related, engineering, finance or
healthcare the success rate is 10%. For all
others the success is 1%. Overall 4%.
2.
Mailing out resumes to employers at
random. 7% success.
3.
Answering ads in professional or trade
journals. 7% success rate.
4.
Answering local newspaper ads. 5-24%
success rate.
5.
Going to private employment agencies or
search firms for help. 5-24% success rate.
Two best ways to
find a job:
1.
Networking. 33% success rate.
2.
The Creative Approach. 86% success rate.
Fundamental Truth #3:
If you’re job-hunting, and coming up
“empty” you need to change the search method you
have been using.
Identify where your
marketing plan is weak. Ask yourself these
questions:
1.
Top 10
Career Fields: Are you seeking a job
– any job will do as long as there’s a paycheck
and benefits? Or, are you seeking career fields
that you are passionate about and can you
communicate that passion within a résumé, during
networking opportunities and during an
interview? Employers do not want to hire
someone looking for a paycheck. Employers want
to hire employees who are passionate about doing
the type of work the employer has available.
Yes, the employer can see through you if you are
just after the paycheck. If you do not know what
your top 10 career fields are, then you need to
take the assessment Career Services uses called
MyPlan and get
guidance
from our trained career counselors.
2.
Networking: Are you out talking to a
lot of people every single day about the career
fields you want to work in and how your skill
sets align with the career field? If not, you
will stay frustrated and unemployed or
underemployed. Experts say you have to have 100
people that you are talking to specifically
about your career interests and aspirations.
The reason for this is that the really cool jobs
are found in the “Hidden Job Market”. Unless you
are talking to a lot of people, you’ll never
know that your dream job is out there waiting on
you! Career Services has two very good video
tapes that teach how to network effectively.
Come in and watch them.
3.
Résumé
and Cover Letter: Are you applying
for jobs that you know are available and you are
qualified and not getting an interview? If you
are, re-think your résumé and cover letter. Are
you showcasing that you have the knowledge,
skills and abilities (KSA) that the employer is
seeking? Usually the answer is no. You may be
showcasing the KSAs that are important to you,
not the employer. Target each
résumé you send out to each job to which you are
applying. Career Services can
teach
you how to do this.
4.
Interviewing: Are you getting second
interviews or job offers? If not, you are doing
something wrong in the interview. Be critical
of your interview performance. Immediately
after the interview, sit down and replay the
interview to see where your responses to the
questions asked were weak. Great coaching tips
can be found in Career Services' online
Interviewing
Workshop.
Prior to the interview, you must identify the
KSAs needed to do the job and do a thorough
analysis of how you stack up to them. The KSAs
are found in the job description or vacancy
announcement. You can also look up the job title
online at
ONET’s web
site where you’ll get a listing of
the typical KSAs associated with the job. You
cannot ace an interview unless you know exactly
the KSAs the employer wants and your match.
Prove to the employer you have what they want by
pin-pointing examples from you past experiences
showcasing these KSAs.
The Creative Approach To Finding A Job
Success Secret #1:
You must decide just exactly what you
have to offer to the world.
Identify
your transferable skills or talents,
in order of priority or importance to you.
These skills are transferable to any
field/career that you choose, regardless of
where you first picked them up, or how long you
have used them in some other field. Once you
know your skills, you have the building-blocks
of your occupation; with these building-blocks,
you can define an occupation that you love to
do.
Success Secret #2: Identify the top
ten jobs you want to do. Identify the
organizations that typically hire the career
fields you identified. You must go after the
organization that interest you the most, whether
or not they are known to have a vacancy.
1.
Identifying organizations.
a.
List categories where people doing the
jobs you want to do work – be thorough.
b.
Identify names of organizations in each
category
1.
Yellow pages
2.
Chamber of Commerce publications
3.
Better Business Bureau
4.
Library resources such as “The Almanac of
American Employers”, Dunn & Bradstreet’s
numerous books on employers, etc.
2. Research the organization through friends &
neighbors, the Internet, print, from the people
within the organization.
Success Secret #3: Networking. Ask
for job leads from: family members, friends,
people in the community, staff at career
centers. The Hidden Job Market is where dream
jobs are found. Rarely are they found
advertised in the newspaper or on the Internet.
Coaching tips on how to do
Informational Interviews are found in
our online workshop.
Success Secret #4:
You must ID specific people to contact
and turn the name into an appointment. This
means using your contacts –anybody you know – to
get an appointment there; specifically, to get
an appointment with the one individual there who
actually has the power to hire you for the job
that you most want to do. You must have done
the research on them first, to find out just
exactly who that is, not to mention other
valuable information about the organization’s
goals, etc. You have to be working 100 leads
ALL the time.
1.
Call – write – call. System to look for
leads, advice, ideas, and referrals – not job
openings.
a.
First call to verify the name, title, and
if they are in town.
b.
Write a letter saying you are going to
call. Do not send résumé. Stress that you are
“interested in career advice and information.
Give a specific time that you will call, such
as, Tuesday before noon.
c.
Develop a 60
Second Commercial. Imagine yourself
in an elevator with the person you will be
calling and you only have the amount of time it
takes for the elevator to move between 3 to 4
floors. What do you need to say in this short
time frame that will convince them to talk to
you? For help in developing the commercial use
the resources available in Career Services’
online interviewing workshops.
d.
Call. Use your 60 second commercial when
you call. “Can I talk to you about my career
ideas? Will you have any time to talk to me
about advice, ideas, leads or referrals?”
2.
Should you be invited to meet with a
representative of the company you are interested
in working with or the individual who has the
cool job you want, be prepared for an
information interview.
Career Services has an entire workshop on line
that will teach you more about Informational
Interviewing. Here are some sample questions to
ask:
a.
How did you get into this field?
b.
What kind of preparation is expected?
Is this typical / required?
c.
Once you got this job, was there
anything different from what you expected?
d.
What insures continued advancement?
e.
What is the typical career path for this
position? What is your next step?
f.
What advice do you have for someone like
me?
g.
How much can a person expect to make
industry wide in a position like this?
h.
Who else does this? What other
companies? Who else should I talk to?
If you stumble across an opening, apply for a
change in status. Ask the person, ”That sounds
very interesting. How would I go about formally
applying for the position?”
Do not
burn them by being there looking for a job.
Success Secret #5:
Repeat the process
over and over until you get a job you really
want.
Summing Up
You can expect to change
your job seven or more times over the course of
your lifetime, so learning how to conduct a job
search is something of a continuous improvement
process. The more you learn about the process
this time, the faster you can get started the
next time. And, the more skills you master with
your job search, the better able you will be to
integrate and use effectively these new
strategies in the future.
Additional tools are available on our
website to help you with your job search,
including links to a number of internet job
search engines, employer websites, career guides
and more.
Network! Network! Network!
The harder & smarter you work the luckier you
get!
|
