With an unproductive job search it is difficult NOT to take it personally. When you first embark on your job search journey, you are filled with enthusiasm and high expectations. If your job search efforts prove unproductive over a long period of time, it can be discouraging. You feel like you are wasting your time. This is especially true, when you spend most of your time answering job boards or jobs that are posted on various websites – one of the most unproductive methods job seekers can use.
You can turn around an unproductive job search by:
1. Only applying for jobs where your credentials match the requirements of the position
2. Customizing your cover letter and resume, or application to highlight the appropriate key words for each position.
3. Spending most of your job search time developing your network of successful people.
4. Directly marketing yourself to hiring authorities DAILY! (To the person who would be your boss’s boss)
Close to 60% of job seekers find their next opportunity by networking with successful people and directly marketing themselves to hiring authorities. People recommend people they know. If you want more information on how to market yourself, log into our Career Portal located in the right hand margin on our Job Seeker Page. Click on the “Get Career Help” tab. Review the three phases of your Job Search – Prepare, Search & Connect and Interview. There are many tips in each phase that can breathe new life into your job search.
It is important to realize that when you do not hear back from a company or hiring authority, chances are they are not rejecting YOU personally. Instead, you have not been noticed. Your resume or application could have been screened out by an automated system due to the lack of key search terms. A Job Search is a sales process and each NO you hear is that much closer to a YES. Commit to a high level of actions each day, put most of your time into networking with people who have good jobs and direct marketing to management – not HR. Do this and you will begin to move your search forward while reducing your level of rejection.
By Personal Career Counselor.
Most individuals involved in a job search are not sales professionals, which is why the process is usually “uncomfortable.” A job search requires you to “sell” your experience and skills to a future employer. However, success is much easier to achieve with a positive attitude.
If you are NOT currently employed, your FULL-TIME job is your job search. You need to spend 40 hours a week working on your search. If you ARE currently employed, but seeking a job change, you need to dedicate at least 10 hours every week to your search. You need to become PROACTIVE and make things happen versus being REACTIVE and waiting for things to happen for you. Whether you think you WILL succeed or whether you think you WON’T succeed – you’re RIGHT!
What you think actually becomes your reality. What your mind can conceive and believe your body will achieve. A positive attitude will propel you to higher levels of success. There is a Law of Attraction that is extremely FAIR. It’s not enough to WANT a new job; you have to EXPECT it to happen! Your attitude either portrays you with glowing confidence or betrays with none. Envision yourself already working IN a job that would make you happy. Write down the following:
- What type of job are you doing?
- What are the functions of your job?
- What salary are you earning?
- What is your environment?
- What type of boss do you have?
- What are your advancement possibilities?
Write down the type of opportunity that would make you happy and read it several times each day, picturing yourself actually doing the job. There are good jobs in Waco, in fact there are Great jobs in Waco. So, try this and watch your results improve! You CAN do it.
Who actually has the most difficult job search?
The over 50 crowd thinks it’s harder to find a job, recent grads think it’s harder to find a job, people returning to the workforce think it’s hardest for them to find a job and individuals changing careers often feel it’s impossible to make the change.
The truth of the matter is there are jobs for all four groups. However, employers prefer different skill sets. Some want to mold and train while others value maturity and expertise. If you believe it is harder for you to find a job over some other group, you are your own worst enemy. If you think you CAN or CAN’T find a job-YOU’RE RIGHT! Your expectations impact your success.
To gain momentum in your search, you need to not only CHANGE what you think you know but also the way you conduct your search. Sixty percent of job seekers find their job through networking with the next best way to find a job being to market yourself directly to hiring decision maker – not resume or application repositories. Spend the majority of your time doing these two things and you will begin to enjoy results.
If you are not sure how, complete the PREPARE, SEARCH & CONNECT and INTERVIEW steps under the tab labeled Personal Career Portal. Follow the advice and you will be enjoying your new job sooner rather than later!
