Know what you are looking for and you will find it.
You know the job search is stressful and frustrating. The only thing worse than that is the budget it forces you to live on. You just want a job with a paycheck. You’ll take anything at this point.
If you are willing to take anything, you will end up with nothing. This may seem strange. You would think that willingness to accept anything would result in many opportunities. But the opposite is true for three reasons.
One reason is because people will forget about you in a New York second. Without a clear focus, no one will know how to help you. If you tell them what you are looking for, they will come across it.
I recently bought a Honda CRV. Before I bought mine, I don’t remember seeing any on the road. But once I was driving one, it seems like Honda CRV’s are everywhere. Where did they all come from? There were there all along. But I didn’t see them because they weren’t on my radar screen. They are now.
Think in terms of your job search. If people now what you want, their radar is tuned to pick up those signals.
The second reason is you look desperate. People shy away from desperate friends. They want to help people who are enthused and hopeful. No one wants to be associated with someone who exhibits negative behaviors.
And finally, your friends will stop giving you leads. You say you will do anything, but I’m sure there are many things you don’t want. And when you turn down things you have no interest in one to many times, friends will stop passing along information to you.
It’s necessary to be flexible in this day and age in order to get a job. However, employers want people who are qualified and want to do the job. They need someone to solve a problem they have, and it’s either save/make money or save time.
You may have to get a job just to pay bills, and that’s ok. Here are a few tips that will help you find the job you genuinely want.
- Think about a job outside your field. It would be a good idea to take a job where you will come in contact with movers and shakers in your industry. For example: deliver dry cleaning to corporate clients or become part of the wait staff near your target company.
- Volunteer using your professional skills and stay involved in your professional organizations. Keep up with developments in your industry.
- Continue networking and searching for your ideal job. Don’t give up.
- Help your friends help you by giving them something to work with. Summarize your qualifications and how you make a difference for your employer in a two or three sentence story that’s easy to remember.
If you say you are looking for (title) for a (size or name of a target company) and that you want to use your (skills) to (how you will impact the company), is much better than saying you’ll take anything. Remember anything could be from following the elephants in the circus parade with a pooper scooper to gathering leeches.
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