In my last blog
entry I posed a question: if someone offered expertise and advice about a
subject directly related to what you were trying to accomplish, would you not
only be interested in hearing what they had to offer, but also be willing to
apply their suggestions to a varying degree?
Who wouldn’t
want to get some advice, right? Most people are glad to receive help with their
efforts. But there are those – and we all know someone like this – who will
claim one thing but do something else or, worse, do nothing at all. They’ll
readily admit they are stuck in a rut and not getting anywhere but will still
fight tooth and nail to remain right where they are, all the while complaining
about it.
I recently spoke
with someone who told me she is seriously
looking for a job, so I asked, “What do you want to do”, “What are you
currently doing to help yourself toward the goal of a new job?”
She said she
doesn’t quite know what she wants to do but is open and would consider any good job. My advice: you should have
some idea of what you want or you're going to waste a lot of time and it is
difficult for someone else to help you if you don’t first know what you want to
do.
She then
explained she’d already sent a lot resumes but wasn’t getting any responses. I
asked if she’s conducted any follow-up with the companies with which she’s
inquired. She was dismissive and said she couldn’t remember all of them. My
advice: follow-up should be an integral part of any resume effort and you need
to be proactive, able to recall who and what companies have your resume. If it
doesn’t matter, why bother in the first place, if you’re just tossing resumes
around? In her frustration she said she was not going to send any more resumes
and considers making direct person-to-person contact and introductions to be
demeaning, as she put it, “I am not going to go knocking on doors like a
beggar.” That’s unfortunate, because anyone who reads my blog already knows
that is precisely what she should be doing; but she would hear none of it.
So I asked her
what she wanted from me and she suggested she'd prefer to rely on networking
and suggested she would get better results being referred by someone like me.
My advice: networking is a good and effective way to find a job; the theory
being that through a network of people you can capitalize on their extended
contacts and referrals as a multiplier to one’s own efforts. When applied in
this manner it’s a good strategy and something in which everyone should
consider engaging. Although, some
people wrongly assume networking amounts to relying on others to get them a
job, thereby putting their monkey on someone else's back. Sorry, but that is
not how it works and often people who network in this manner find that over
time their network shrinks for obvious reasons. Networking is helpful because
you can meet people you otherwise might not, however, you must still be able to
demonstrate and explain to someone why you are worthy of consideration. No one
else can or should be doing that - it still comes back to you!
Believe it or
not, I speak with a lot of people who sound like the person I’ve just
described. In all of these examples I’ve shared, rest assured that due to human
nature many people are simply reluctant to adapt their efforts. The
good news for those who aim to set themselves apart and willing to do more for
a better result, is the majority of
people seeking the same jobs won’t and aren’t willing to do more, unwilling to
innovate. Furthermore, it isn’t only about doing more or working harder, but
working smarter which means you are planning and calculating your moves and at
the same time, ready at a moments notice to innovate and adjust as needed.
However, before you implement any clever and innovative measures, I suggest
that you first consider three of the most basic things that will lend to your
overall job search efforts and success; we’ll talk about that next time.
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