Step out of your comfort zone and find job search success.
Some job searchers fail to move out of their comfort zone when looking for jobs. This failure is killing their success. The job search people undertake today is remarkably different from when they were looking for their first job. For one thing, they aren’t typing their résumé on typewriters. And that’s only the beginning.
In order to succeed in the job search, they must break free of their misconceptions today’s job search. They may not like having to do things differently, but there is a whole new world of opportunity waiting for them. Here are a few of the areas where they want to move out of their comfort zones.
Spending too much time online looking for jobs—currently it is estimated that over 80% of jobs are obtained through networking. Spending hours on end on-line only leads to stress and frustration. Reaching out to others and building relationships with people who can get you in front of hiring managers is a better use of their time.
Ignoring social media—it has been said that if you aren’t on LinkedIn, you don’t exist. Job searchers can be found by recruiters on LinkedIn and other social media. Not only are recruiters looking for employees, they are posting jobs on social media. Companies share their latest news on social media. Job searchers using social media for company research find current news that they can use in an interview.
Using only one résumé—having and sending out only one resume is lost opportunity. There are many such resumes in the black hole. Each résumé should be tailored to the desired position so that it will turn up in a search in the company’s application tracking system. A résumé containing the keywords from the posting has a better chance of being selected. Sending the same resume for every position lacks the specific keywords used by each company.
Not knowing their unique selling proposition—a job searcher needs to know what makes them the perfect candidate for the job and how it will benefit the company. The majority of the people applying have the skills and experience needed to do the job, but the successful job searcher is the one who has the unique ability to do it better than anyone else.
Not being proactive—job searchers who sit around waiting for jobs to come to them are going to be disappointed. Today’s job search is about getting out and networking. It’s about asking at the end of the interview what the next steps are and following up appropriately.
Job searching is a job in itself. A job searcher needs to be always one step of the competition to know what companies are hiring, what types of jobs are available, and being able to go after the job with confidence. Hours online won’t make that happen. Nor will sitting and waiting for the phone to ring. Do what it takes to be successful.
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