This man treats the job hunt like a full-time occupation. He prepares marketing materials to sell himself, gets on the phone and makes cold calls to set up appointments with prospective clients. Then he goes into the appointment to close the sale. Learn his practical but successful strategy.
My last professional position was a technical sales business development representative. I did the job the outside sales representatives did not want to do which was cold call for new business. I found the job through a combination of local job listing websites, Monster and my networking contacts. Some of my professional contacts told me a particular company was hiring, so I checked it out on a local job hunting site which directed me to the full job listing on Monster. It took me about six months of searching to find the job.
Over the years, my capacity as a hiring manager in previous positions had helped me to develop a professional job hunt process that was thorough and successful. One of the most important things I learned about hunting for a job is to use as many resources as you possibly can.
When I was job hunting I went to job fairs, talked to professional recruiters, used a variety of websites and kept working on developing my professional network. All of that work finally came together in finding the job I wanted, but it was definitely a collaborative effort.
The first piece of advice I would give about job hunting is you should not discount any possible leads. The professional networking contact I knew that helped me to find my job was not even in the hiring company’s industry. He was part of a completely different kind of sales organization, but he had a couple of friends inside the hiring company that helped me to find my job.
Another good piece of advice is always be ready to sell yourself to anyone. When I was job searching, I made up business cards with my name and contact information on the front, and a quick summary of my qualifications on the back. I always had copies of my resume in my car ready to give to anyone. This came in extremely handy when I arrived at my first interview with the company that eventually hired me only to realize that I had forgotten to bring copies of my resume with me. Luckily, my preparations during my job search had me well-stocked on resumes in my glove compartment.
A final piece of advice I would give to people hunting for professional work is to be pleasant to every single person you come into contact with at the hiring company. I remember going through the interview process and being told by my eventual departmental manager that it was the receptionist’s opinion that helped get me the job. I was being considered for the job along with two other very qualified people, but since I was very courteous to the receptionist she said that I had the most professional demeanor and that got me the job.
When you are job hunting, it is almost as if you are committed to your own company 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You are always looking for that one break that will get you hired. It takes an incredible amount of work just to find that one opportunity that turns into a job. The one drawback to this aggressive approach to job searching is it is expensive. Between sending out standard mail resume packages (which you should still do even in the e-mail age), constantly dry cleaning my suits and gas to attend interviews and job hunting events, I was going through my savings at a frightening clip. You may want to add a budget to your job hunting process, which is something I had completely forgotten to do.
JustJobs.com is a job search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Read more » articles by this approved business partner | Click here » if you’re a businessImage from Shawn Hempel/Shutterstock
Bigstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
Need more help with your job search?
Become a member to learn how to land a job and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
Read moreShow less