Just back from conducting several career strategy seminars, I've found that while some masses are finding work, some aren't. Besides the personal frustration of not finding work, the job seekers also experience the insistence from their spouses which, they assure me, hurts rather than helps. It is a strong business. But the fact is that a successful job search requires far more work than anyone expects.
Looking for a full-time job is a full-time job in itself.
Let's begin with the basics.
1. Your Resume:
Yes, you get to make one even though it alone won't get you a job. Your job objective, if you publish one, must correspond exactly the job description for which you're applying. It must match word for word. Let me repeat - word for word. If it doesn't, no one will say further.
In your professional experience section, you get to cite specifics. For example, don't list just sales, but include numbers of items sold and discover how you personally increased sales. Detail other areas where you excelled - whether it was client liaison, product education, promotional efforts, or team collaboration.
Unless you've been a president, cut your resume down to one page. Remove the fillers. Reduce all your educational information so that each degree takes up just one line. Don't list your hobbies unless they are particularly impressive or relevant. Remember, your survey is meant to support you from being eliminated as a possible candidate for the interview, not to do as a conversation starter.
2. Your Cover Letter:
Yes, it's safe to make a covering letter, even if it's not asked for. Its use is to create meaning out of your resume, an inherently boring document. While you don't repeat everything, you do have to say why you are restricted for the job given your live and education. One technical candidate charted his see to the job's specifications - a creative and splendid way to make his cover letter stand out. Don't be modest; this is the pure position to say how talented and qualified you are and what you will work to the organization.
You absolutely must have someone highly literate proof and cut your covering letter and your resume for you to have them perfect because any misspellings or grammatical errors will disqualify you. Neatness counts big time, especially when your destination is to bring the interview.
3. Marketing Yourself:
Don't just take your survey and letters virtually, expecting somebody to meet you. Yes, you get to do that, but there's more to it. Use your personal and business networks to set up face-to-face meetings or, at the least, phone conversations. Also, look for expert stories written by and most successful people and meet them, complimenting them and request them for leads. Even if people aren't initially forthcoming, don't hold up. Ask them what they would do if they were in your shoes: who you should be talking to or what you should be going after. Who knows? It just might jumpstart a lead.
Put yourself out there by calling at least 5 people a day and stressful to bring two or more meetings a week. If you don't recognize anyone to pass out to, start connecting with mass in all the right places including networking meetings. Keep a log of whom you've talked to and what you discussed. Keep your promises. Call back with questions and progress, and render thanks. Always give thanks.
Rehearse yourself before an interview. Expect to be asked about your feel and be inclined to discuss why they should consider hiring you, what talents and skills you give to bear, how you've handled difficult situations before, what happened to end your final job, and what excellence you bring. In short, they need to live if you'll be a trusted contributor. Practice making yourself likeable too, and feeling for common bonds to make on. People hire people they alike and people who are like them.
4. Your Support Team:
Don't depend solely on your home or close friends to be your prime author of living because sometimes their own needs can be distracting. It's up to you to see others who can assist you, people who are already running and can make you tips, as good as people who aren't - so that you can promote each others' searching. Read books about job search and some people's success, and emulate them. Check in with a career coach. Don't get disheartened if it takes awhile; it's normal for the search go on for at least 3 months.
5. What To Do On The Way:
Read about your field either online or at the library. You'll need good things to speak about and who knows who you'll meet on the way. Give up complaining - it's a losing game. Instead, make yourself win at something else while you're job hunting. Make a quilt; learn bridge; walk an extra mile; plant an herb garden.
6. If You Don't See The Perfect Fit:
Take a job even if you believe it's beneath you and make your way up. Find meaning by noticing what needs to be done and doing it.
The Department of Labor reports that we are up to 12 to 15 career changes in our lifetimes. We better get moving.
Make your luck happen!
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