Minimum job search requirements
THE HEART OF A LION & THE SPIRIT OF A WARRIOR
If you do not possess these or learn them SOON your search will continue to drag on. This is not just my opinion. It has been proven Dozens of times by my clients and the clients and feedback of many professional coaches. If you have hired a coach, consultant or are working with an outplacement service do exactly what they tell you. I don’t care how hard or foreign it seems you paid them to tell you how to run a successful search.
I know that for the majority of the people reading this conducting a search in the present market when the chips all seem to be stacked against you is the hardest thing you have ever done. If you look at the recommendations on my profile I would bet that at some point ½ of them almost quit or at some point told me they just couldn’t do what I ask them to do. They all turned things around and are now working.
For most people the hardest thing to do is networking and I’m not referring to calling your buddies or former peers. Everybody does them first and soon enough they run out. Then what are you going to do? You can only call them so often before they stop returning your calls. The networking that causes most people trouble is “cold call” networking; calling people you do not know. This is new to the job search. A couple of years ago nobody had to do it. You would call all your friends former associates. Contact a few recruiters, spend a few hours a week on the job boards and you had a new job in no time. Today everybody I talk to or read about who has been looking for 6+ has been searching this way and the results….
*send 500 resumes and if you’re lucky get back 5 form letters.
* Get no returned phone calls or at best get a call from HR asking for your resume
* Third party recruiters tell you your background sounds great and that is the last you hear from them.
* I could keep going but you get the idea
Changing this requires the heart of a lion and a warrior’s spirit. I mean you dive into your search with NO FEAR. Learn to prospect into target companies by calling decision makers and having a quality business conversation. Talk to 10-15 (I said talk to not call) per week who you have never talked to. Use the Linkedin “advanced” search function to find people in your targets. It won’t kill you or cause any physical pain. Build your network to 4-500 connections and send each one a note through Linkedin. My clients average a 30% return. You do this through your Linkedin inbox not “inmails”
Attack, Attack, Attack the way a hungry mother lion would. Do it every day. Looking for a job is a forty hour job.
Happy hunting

Comments

[Michael W]

I have been looking for a job since October 2011 and so far I just got two short consultancy contracts for a few hours here and there. I was starting to ask myself: "what is wrong with me ? ". But now I realize the right question is: "what's wrong with my search?". Your post is offering a pretty good answer. Thanks!