Get Ready . . . Get Set . . . |
Want to hit the ground running in fall? Then use the techniques and strategies below to re-focus and re-energize your job search now.
Autumn is one of the most active times of the hiring year. Companies, resuming their normal hiring activity following the slower pace of summer, now focus on meeting the staffing needs of programs and projects beginning concurrent with the government’s new fiscal year, for workloads of some industries that increase in the fall, or in anticipation of needs for the coming calendar year.
It is also the time of year
that many job seekers, aware of this end-of-the-year hiring potential, jump enthusiastically
back into their searches! But the issue
becomes when do you begin and what do you?
Many of your job seeking colleagues will wait until the passing of Labor
Day. And, if you have been searching for
a while without results, the challenging August-to-early September time frame
can seem to offer a good time to take a break.
After all, it can get frustrating waiting to hear back from companies
that delay hiring decisions, interviews times, and responses to inquiries and
application submissions until their own vacationing team members return and are
back on board. For job seekers, faced
with these delays, it can be disheartening.
However, you can get a jump
on those who would wait until Labor Day and make good use of this end of summer
time period right now. There are a lot
of job search activities that you can do in order to keep your search moving
forward, albeit more slowly during this time period, and to hit the ground
running in Fall.
Beat the Competition
First and foremost, if you
have an ongoing search, keep searching.
Don’t put your job search on hold, don’t stop searching, and don’t give
up. Use this slower time to your
advantage. Many of your competitors will
slow down or shut down their searches, unknowingly lessening the competition. Remember, hiring slows but does not
stop. So keep on networking, applying,
and interviewing whenever and wherever you can.
Renew Your Job Search
Second, use this time to
analyze and re-invigorate your job search campaign. Think of it as performing a Job Search Campaign (Project) Audit with two
distinct parts.
- Job Search Audit Part 1: Take a hard look at the way you market yourself by analyzing and refining your Job Search Marketing Tools. The goal is to ensure that your Marketing Materials accurately support your job search goal. They should show that you would be a good fit for the type of job you want to do.
- Job Search Audit Part 2: Review your job search activity. Take a hard look at how you portray and present yourself as a candidate for the type of work you want to do. Identify gaps and lapses in your performance, and strategize ways to fills the gaps.
Using this
slower time in the hiring year to review your progress will enable you to
clarify your focus, sharpen your strategy, and improve your marketing of YOU as
the best candidate for the type of work you are seeking. So go ahead
and begin your Job Search Audit.
Re-examine your job search goal and either
confirm it or re-set it.
·
First
and foremost, take a look at the goal you set for the type of job you
thought you wanted. Think back. When you began your search, you probably (at
least I hope you did) thought about the type of job you’d like your next job to
be, analyzed your capabilities, developed your Elevator Speech, Resume, and
Marketing Plan accordingly, and then set about conducting your search. Maybe that was a month ago, a few months ago,
or even at the beginning of the year.
Recognize that during this time as you worked at your search, you’ve
learned a lot . . . about the employment market, the capabilities hiring
companies desire, and yourself.
·
Now ask
yourself, based on what you’ve learned:
“Is my goal realistic? Is it
representative of the job I really want to do?
Have I learned that there’s a better job type than that which I thought
I wanted? Is there another field,
industry, or sector for which I’m better suited?” Your answers to these questions will sharpen
your focus and hone your goal. Now, use
this time to research how to pursue your improved goal.
Update
your Resume (and other marketing materials) based on what you have learned so
that it better represents your abilities and better positions you as a
desirable candidate for the type of work you want to do and where you want to
do it.
·
Review
your resume. Does it really say what you
think it says? A good
technique is to actually read it ALOUD.
Painstaking, I know, but it’ll slow you down, and you’ll actually read
what you wrote -- not what you think you wrote.
·
Reflect on the purpose of your resume: Its job is to get you through the employer’s
door. It does not get you hired; it just
opens the door to further consideration.
So, your resume needs to show (i.e., sell) the recruiter and hiring manager
that you can do the job and would be a good candidate to learn more about,
i.e., interview. It does this via Accomplishment
Statements that show the duties you performed and results you achieved that
relate to a prospective employer’s requirements for a position. Showing results
of your work is the strongest argument you can make for interviewing you.
·
Ensure that your Career Summary, i.e., Professional Summary, positions you
correctly. The most strategic
part of your resume, the Career Summary needs to draw the reader in, persuading
them that you possess enough of the experience and capabilities they are
looking for to make them want to read on.
·
Make sure your resume is current. Show recent professional achievements. If you are unemployed, and have been
searching for a while, but have also taken some time to do contract or
consulting work, oversee a project, take a course, publish a report or article,
achieve a new certification, etc., show this accomplishment(s) on the top half
of the front page of your resume. If you
are employed, show this activity in the section of your resume where it
fits best.
·
Check to ensure you are using current wording
and jargon for terminology that may have changed or is changing.
·
Review your resume to ensure that it is easy to
read. Have readable type (no smaller
than 11 point) and adequate white space.
Change lengthy paragraphs of type to bullet points. Ensure it is free of typos and poor grammar;
many interviewers find this type of easily correctable error inexcusable. If English is not your first language, have
someone you trust read your updated resume and provide corrections.
·
Check for negativity. Eliminate any descriptive phrases that allude
to a past employer in a negative way. This
damaging wording can stop a prospective employer in their tracks. Negative tones, or wording, can creep onto a
resume (or cover letter) if the separation from the firm was a bad one, or the
resume was written shortly after a termination, lay off, or reprimand.
·
And, finally, yes Virginia, you do need to
tailor your resume specific
to each submission. If you haven’t been
doing this, rest assured your competition does.
Update
your Marketing Plan. Probably the
most overlooked of the marketing tools, but it shouldn’t be. What a marketing plan does is really
simple: It provides direction for daily
job search activity, and creates order out of chaos. I have seen it help job seekers go from
feeling overwhelmed to feeling in control, and go from “I don’t know where to
start (or go from here)” to “I know what to do next.”
·
Use a Marketing Plan to succinctly identify your
areas of competency, those areas of skill, knowledge, and abilities you possess
and that employers hire you for.
·
Then list types of industries, and specific
companies within those industries, that employ your competencies and that value
(i.e. pay you a salary for) your skills and experience.
·
Remember too that your Marketing Plan is a work
in progress. It is never done. Add companies and organizations as you become
aware of new ones and delete those that you learn don’t hire folks with your
set of competencies. A strategic,
targeted Marketing Plan will keep you barking up the RIGHT trees.
Update
your Networking Plan. As with your Marketing
Plan, your Networking Plan is a written plan, not just an Outlook Address book
or a list that you keep in your head (especially not a list that you keep in
your head). A well-conceived Networking
Plan lists contact information for your network of contacts, and keeps a
running tally of your interactions with them.
It is a safeguard designed to prevent things from falling through the
cracks.
·
Networking is not “just talking to people.” But too often, this is exactly with job
seekers think that it is. Effective
networkers will tell you the opposite.
Most will tell you they had (and have) a plan for their networking. They devised their plan and then they worked
it. It was not happenstance or luck that
led them to a key contact whose referral or recommendation to a hiring manger
made the hiring difference.
·
Networking is the name of the job seeking
game. It’s said that well over 80% of
opportunities come about via the Hidden Market; I personally think it’s even
higher. The Hidden Market contains
career opportunities that never, or at least not initially, see the light of
day in open advertisements. These are
either (1) actual but unadvertised open positions, or (2) potential ones that
are not yet created but for which a need exists. The only way to access these opportunities
is to work the Hidden Market via networking.
·
Plan your networking in order to be most
effective when seeking a new position or role.
Create a written, comprehensive networking plan containing the names of
and contact information for network contacts and referrals. And don’t make the mistake of limiting it
to professional contacts. Your plan
should include people from all walks of your life, listed by sector, including
professional contacts, service providers, organizations / associations, clubs
and hobbies, friends and family, etc.
·
List those you know now, and expand it as you
meet, interact with, and receive referrals to new contacts.
·
Your networking plan provides a path initially
to meeting, and meetings with, interesting people, and ultimately to a key
contact or two who connect you with opportunity. Create, work, and consistently update your
networking plan to uncover career opportunities.
Align
your other Marketing Materials to tell a consistent story. It is really important that the rest of your
Marketing Tools tell a story consistent with your newly revised Resume. Check to ensure they align with and support
your job search goal. Revise your other
Job Search Marketing Materials that should include but are not limited to the
following:
·
Elevator Speech – A self-introduction
that accurately and adequately conveys your expertise and attributes in less
than 30 seconds. This is probably the
most frequently delivered marketing tool, so make sure it is attention grabbing
and accurately conveys your expertise and unique strengths.
·
Business Card – A Personal-Professional
Business Card that tells the receiver at a minimum your name and basic contact
information, and at maximum your profession / title and competency areas.
·
Reference List – An annotated reference
list shows not only the name and contact information of your reference, but
also the nature of your professional relationship.
·
Portfolio – A professional job search
portfolio is another often overlooked marketing tool but one that make an
impact as it provides “proof” of your claims of competency. It can contain items supportive of your
claims of effectiveness and success such as:
Resume, awards, training courses completed or taught, letters of
recommendation, letters of appreciation, performance appraisals, certificates,
publications, degrees/diplomas, etc.
Formats can include physical portfolios (including nice looking binders
with neatly organized materials) or electronic displays of your work.
·
Cover Letter Template – A cover letter is
a short, concise letter that is a sales letter.
It offers you an opportunity to discuss what you can do and how you
qualify for the position, share some knowledge you have about the hiring firm,
and sell a prospective employer on the benefits of hiring you. In other words, it allows you a little
literary license, thus differing from the resume’s straight-forward and factual
presentation of your work.
·
Thank You Letter Template – A short,
concise letter that follows any and every interaction of your search. Choose the format that you think your recipient would be most amenable to: e-mail, a hand-written note, or even in some
cases a typed letter. Send
a thank you letter following interviews, meetings with recruiters at job fairs,
meetings with a network contact, help rendered by a colleague, friend, family
member, or acquaintance, an encouraging word sent by a network contact, a
former boss who takes the time to talk with you and offer suggestions and
advice, etc.
·
LinkedIn Profile – A professional social
media tool. Your profile provides a
focused description showing who you are, what you do and how that benefits
others, and why you deserve to be noticed.
A standard hiring tool, LinkedIn is used by employers to search for and
research candidates for jobs. It should
not just be a regurgitation of your resume; your Profile allows you a little literary
license to go beyond facts and figures and show prospective employers more of
who you are on the job, i.e., how you might approach a work assignment, how you
get things, why you are effective.
Part 2:
Identify
your performance gaps and fill them.
How’s
your sales technique? Job seeking is
nothing more, and nothing less, than a sales process. Thinking and acting like a salesperson will
make the job of finding a job easier.
·
Finding a job is all about sales. So, don’t forget to think and act like a
salesperson. Astute salespeople don't
approach prospects with laundry lists of their product's or service's
features. Instead, they show how these features will help, or benefit. They show how
their product will help the customer solve problems, stem shrinkage, and
facilitate growth. Your marketing
tools should do the same for you.
·
Remember too that people buy benefits. Accomplishment Statements on your
resume show the type of results you are able to achieve, and how you benefitted previous employers. They also serve as talking points for
interviews. Draw upon these
Accomplishment Statements when an interviewer asks you: “What would you say
are your greatest strengths?” Or “Tell
me about a problem you have solved.”
·
Too often, I have heard from job seekers who are
reluctant to toot their own horn.
Uncomfortable saying positive things about themselves, they hesitate,
feeling that they are bragging. But by
drawing on the facts and figures provided in their Accomplishment Statements,
they often feel more comfortable.
Who
fell off the radar screen? With your
Marketing Tools updated and aligned with your revised or clarified job search
goal, take time to review your past job search activity. (1)
Dig out all the marketing letters (cover letters and thank you letters)
you sent to target companies, hiring firms, and networks contacts. (2)
Identify all the applications you’ve submitted. (3)
Review them, looking for folks with whom you can re-connect in the
following ways:
·
Re-connect with contacts you approached with an
e-mail or phone call and received either no response, or a single, limited, or
luke-warm response. With your more
accurate and better defined marketing materials, you may incite some interest
that wasn’t there when your resume or elevator speech was luke-warm!
·
Re-connect with companies, recruiters, and
organizations that had positions or potential openings – whether you pursued
them or not. Just as you may have
changed during your search, so do things in companies. They may not have filled the position, or
changed the requirements for what they desire in a candidate. Or, their first choice candidate may have
quit by now. Happens all the time!
·
Get back in touch with firms that interviewed
you. Find out: What happened to the position? Did they fill it? Did they change it? Did the chosen candidate work out? If you felt a rapport with a member of the
interview team or an employee in the firm, touch base. They may know about the position, other
positions, or current needs. Or, they may
have moved on to another firm and know of their new firm’s needs.
Do
some soul searching about gaps and lapses. Be brutally honest with yourself. Where did your performance fall down? What did your job search campaign lack? What can you change about the way you work at
your job search? Here are some typical
trouble spots.
·
Follow up. Many job seekers say they follow up, but only
do a limited follow-up at best. One
follow-up e-mail following a networking meeting, talking with a recruiter at a
job fair, a submission to a target company, or an interview is not effective
follow-up. Your follow-up should consist
of regularly getting back in touch in a consist manner that you plan and track.
·
Time spent working on their search. Job seekers often fool themselves into
believing that they are working harder and longer than they think. They say they are really working hard, but
when they begin to track their time, they soon see that they’re only working a
couple of hours a day . . . if that! Oh
yes, they’re on the computer . . .
looking at Facebook, doing some shopping, reading the news, playing
Solitaire, daydreaming in Starbucks, scanning the job boards but not
proactively acting on any leads. Or,
they work in bursts of activity – such as working all weekend – and then doing
little for the next several days or even weeks.
The most effective job seekers I’ve seen work differently; they work
consistently day by day, approaching their search as their job. An aid to many job seekers is to set a
schedule for their job search work day, identifying the times they will begin
work, take breaks, and have lunch, as well as the tasks they will do each
day.
·
Failure to act on referrals. Referrals are golden. They open doors – if acted on in a timely
manner. If not, the damage done will
reflect on (1) you for not being serious and the (2) referrer for having
exercised poor judgement in giving you a referral in the first place. If you are lucky enough to receive a
referral, either act on it immediately or tell the referrer why you can’t do so
now, and then arrange a realistic time when you can do so.
·
Failure to act on leads in a timely manner. Many leads you will receive are time
sensitive. If you tend toward
procrastination, set a spot in your daily schedule for lead follow-up.
·
Failure to understand that finding a job
takes work. This failure sinks a lot
of job seekers. They dabble in the work
of job search, seeking short cuts and work reducing panaceas. They decide a search firm or a
well-positioned relative or friend will “get them a job.” They look to a job search coach or an
employment agency to do the job of finding them a job. But, while these resources can be very
helpful, there is no substitute for buckling down, committing to the task,
working at the job like it’s your job. Finding
a job is a job . . . your job.
Examine
the company you keep. There’s an old
saying: Success is in the company you
keep. When it comes to
finding a job, the people around you can literally make or break your
search.
·
If you surround yourself with naysayers, you may
find that your energy level drops and your confidence wanes. Self-doubts creep into your internal
conversation: “Who am I kidding? I
could never qualify for this job.”
·
If instead you surround yourself with folks who
are generally positive, the opposite occurs.
Energy increases and so does your confidence. Your self-talk becomes a lot more positive. Understand that job seeking is an emotional
experience, fraught with a lot of highs and lows. Positive people will help you manage through these
highs and lows a lot more effectively.
·
Choose
wisely with whom you share your thoughts, doubts, and activities, and choose
wisely how much you reveal.
Revealing too much to the wrong person can hurt your job search
campaign. Instead, identify a trusted advisor or two with
whom you can talk things over. Joining a job search work team with
fellow job seekers who are experiencing many of the things you are can also
help a lot.
Check
out and manage your social profile.
Check out all those social media formats that you use, view, and
contribute to.
·
Check the social networks with which you engage
including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.
·
Check the media sharing networks you use such as
Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube.
·
Check any discussion forums in which you have
participated, or bloggs you may have contributed to.
·
Check any consumer review networks you may have
contributed to including Yelp, Zomato, TripAdvisor.
· Google yourself. Find out what pops up when you put in your
name.
·
Look for
things that may be damaging to your image as a serious professional candidate –
things you may have said, and things said about you. Do any damage control you are able to do, by
taking down negative information or amending a comment.
·
Refrain, as much as you can, from contributing
to social sites, other than LinkedIn and your own personal professional job
search website if you have one) during your search. Even the most mundane of comments can be
misinterpreted. Know too that
prospective employers will be checking your social presence. More than one candidacy has met its end when
an employer discovered negative things about a candidate for their job.
In summary,
there’s a lot to do to make use of the slower time afforded you during the
latter days of summer. You can make real
strides in correcting the course of your job search in re-energizing it. Use this time to your advantage.
Best of luck in your job search,
Nancy
____________________________________________________________________________
Twitter:
@AfterJobClub
Nancy Gober
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