How to Get Unstuck in Your Job Search
By Kevin Donlin | June 29th, 2009
You can find great job-hunting ideas by reading publications that have nothing ostensible to do with job hunting.
Example: a new book by seminal marketer, Jay Abraham, called The Sticking Point Solution.
What, you may ask, does a book for entrepreneurs and marketing/sales professionals have to do with your job search?
Nothing. And a whole lot.
You’ll find nothing in it if you’re satisfied with ordinary job-search tactics. There are no mentions of networking, dressing for success, or answers to the top 10 interview questions, for example.
But Abraham’s new book (or any good marketing publication) can help you a lot if you extract just one new idea to use in your search for work.
Because, ultimately, every job search is really a marketing campaign.
To that end, here’s just one marketing idea of Abraham’s that can get you hired faster:
Get All That You Can Out Of All That You’re Doing
If you’re like most job seekers, you’re rushing from one job-search tactic to another.
And it’s understandable, given human nature, which makes us eager to seek the “new” and “improved” rather than slog it out and get the most from existing efforts.
As Abraham writes: “Optimization and innovation are both crucial to your success, but the order is important.” He goes on to describe that, in marketing (as in your job search), you should make current activities perform as effectively as possible before seeking out new, untried options.
OK. Time for some hard questions:
Question 1: Before giving up on and moving on to Employer B after applying and not hearing back from Employer A, have you verified that Employer A actually got your resume? Especially if you emailed or submitted it via their web site?
Question 2: Have you tried blogging to attract recruiters and employers … for about two weeks — then given up and tried Twitter and/or Facebook?
Question 3: Have you tried “networking” by calling 10 people and asking if they knew anyone who was hiring … then given up and decided that networking didn’t work?
If you answered yes to one or more questions, you’re “innovating” at the expense of optimizing. And it’s prolonging your job search.
Action Step: Get the most out of your current job-search tactics before trying something new.
Start by analyzing your efforts — if you’re not getting results, why not? Benchmark yourself against people who have been hired recently.
Don’t know anyone successful? That’s why God invented Google — try here, here, and here, for success stories (that last article features David Perry and yours truly).
What did those job seekers do differently? How can you emulate them? Pick one thing they did that you can do. Not 7 or 15. One. Thing. And do it. Today.
Like these ideas? You’ll love these Guerrilla Job Search secrets.
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July 1st, 2009 at 9:40 am
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Sending an unsolicited resume with a cover letter will most often result in no response or a boiler plate rejection form letter. Including a resume will enhance the chance that your letter/resume will be sent to HR at best, for filing but will often be simply thrown out.
The only way to get the attention of a potential employer is to mount an “individual or group spot opportunity” campaign using a targeted letter. That is give the recipient a reason to first read the document and then to open a dialogue with you. The objective is to present yourself as a “solution to key core challenges” and not just one more person who is seeking employment.
Identify five or six core operational challenges the potential manager could be facing that if not addressed have the potential to do significant and often irreparable harm to the company and present those challenges in the second paragraph of the letter. This is then followed up in the letter with a branding statement, educational information, four or five significant, relevant and qualified accomplishments and a call for action. The call is for you to follow-up at a time certain not for the recipient to contact you. That is, you take proactive action and not just wait for the recipient to respond. In today’s increasingly difficult and competitive job market, this strategy will not guarantee an interview but will increase your hit ratio dramatically.
If the campaign is carried out correctly, the challenges are most relevant and compelling and you aggressively and proactively pursue potential employers, getting through to 50% of the recipients is achievable. Can your current efforts deliver this level of success.
Bill Shambrook
http://www.careersuccessnet.com