I was on Blog Talk Radio yesterday talking to The Ex-Recruiter Paul Paris and he asked me an interesting question:
“Are employees doing enough to find a new job or career either when they are laid off or looking to make a transition?”
I know most job seekers think they’re doing enough, but if you’ve been looking for more than six months to no avail the answer to Paris’ question is probably “no”.
Months may have passed since you lost your job, or decided to change your career, but you still may be using the same job-search strategy. Many of you use the economy as an excuse for why you haven’t landed a gig yet. I don’t blame you. But alas, it’s a waste of time to play the blame game right now.
If you get a chance, go to this link to hear a recording of the show that aired yesterday. We discussed a host of topics, and the conversation included some seasoned career coaches and experts.
I think it’s important for every job hunter to ask themselves the question above every day. Maybe your job search has gone astray. Maybe you live in a town where there are few if any job opportunities. Maybe you’re applying for jobs you just don’t have the credentials for.
There are a host of issues that can be keeping you from finding the right career, or just a job to pay the bills.
I plan on writing a column for MSNBC.com on the topic in the weeks ahead and I’d love to hear from all of you. Tell me whether you’ve asked yourself the “are you doing enough” question recently? Did you come up with an answer? Did you ask yourself this question and end up changing your job-search strategy? (email me at telleve@gmail.com)
It may be time to take a hard look in the job-searching mirror.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:32 am
I can answer this one quickly: No. I’m not even looking. I guess I have let the economy dicatate my actions (or lack thereof). I do plan to commence a search soon, however, as I am nearing the completion of my master’s degree.
Hey, Eve, while on the topic of searches, would you re-visit the topic of using social networking sites in conjunction with a search? I’m on LinkedIn and Facebook, and while I’ve not friended my boss, many of my coworkers are among my friends/contacts. I’d like to leverage these sites to aid in my search, but I don’t want to fuel a rumor mill that might make it sound like I plan on jumping ship. I want to be open to new opportunities, but I don’t want to risk cutting myself off from what I already have. Perhaps that’s another reason why I’ve not been proactively seeking new opportunities.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I agree.Making the right moves as far as job search and looking in the right places considering your own skill sets is important.
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February 17th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I think the biggest problem is that when the economy tanked, it broke the old method of job searches, but that hasn’t fully sunk in yet. The era of responding to ads with good resumes and professional cover letters is over. It’s just not enough. However, this process of “how to find a job” was drilled into all of us for so long that it’s all most people know. Too many folks are still searching for employment by putting all the emphasis on these two documents, the way my typing teacher taught me in high school (which was a long time ago).
Focusing on the wording of your resume or cover letter may make you feel like you are putting in the effort, but that will no longer bring in the good jobs. A job search today needs to start with research (on sites like this one!), into what is working and what isn’t, into understanding how the world has changed. A whole new set of tactics has to be developed. Otherwise, like you said, people will continue to believe it’s the economy, not their process, that is at fault.
February 17th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Mark, while I agree that the cover letter and resume are not the only factors, having the “right words” is, in some ways, more critical today than ever. Since many companies either use electronic job applications (online forms) or scan submitted resumes, it is critical that your resume and cover letter cover the keywords that the scanning program will seek. Those keywords might include some specific areas where you have minimal or no experience. Even if you meet all the other listed requirements, if the employer configured the program to reject any submissions that did not include the specific keyword(s), yours might miss the cut.
Knowing that, I’ll make sure my cover letter and/or resume list the specific skill or expertise, and note my actual level of experience. For example, if an ad requests experience working with [software name], but you’ve only worked with a competing product, you could write, “While I have no direct experience with [software name], I have been using [competing product name] for companywide ERP reporting for the past five years, so my skills are directly transferable to your work environment.”