Anyone who reads this
blog knows I strongly suggest you not restrict your efforts or pin your hopes primarily
to online-advertised jobs. Think about it, when a company posts a job on either
their company website or other Internet-based resources, by the time you see it
and answer there are already a lot of other people who are also interested in applying
for the same job. Likely by the time you’ve sent your resume, you are situated somewhere
in the middle of the pile of resumes. Then comes the process of qualification
and elimination and when the dust settles, you might just get an opportunity to
meet and demonstrate why you should be selected over others. However, I contend
that by the time you’ve sent your resume the process is already well under way
and you’re behind the curve trying to catch up. Ideally, if you could you’d
like to be there and involved right from the start, wouldn’t you? But that
isn’t possible, or is it?
I recently spoke with a
person who is frustrated about this very scenario, feeling as if they are
always last to know and late to get involved. Many times they learn within days
of reacting and applying, that a selection has already been made. Consider, if
you will, that if you reverse engineer the hiring and interviewing process, the
time (days) it takes to receive and screen resumes, then schedule and conduct interviews,
schedule and conduct second-round interviews, etc… we’re talking a couple of
weeks, so you do recognize how far you lag in your involvement by the time
you’re contacted or considered? Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not trying to
step on your optimism. My book outlines a combination of other activities you
should be doing in addition to responding online, but here is a relatively
simple additional thing you could, and should be doing.
Even
a blind squirrel finds a nut, occasionally
Of course, you should
continue to react to jobs you see posted and have an interest in, but the
mistake is limiting your activities primarily to this method only. You can
leave your fate to luck or a phenomenon of good timing, but is this the best
you can do?
If you want to get out
front and ahead of the curve, you can’t be only reactive. Consider what happens
in companies that want to hire a new employee. First they look internally,
asking for employee referrals. Next HR checks their own internal database and
after looking internally, then they will look externally and post the job. Of
course, you don’t have a crystal ball to anticipate who will be hiring or when,
although you can create better odds for yourself, thence create your own luck. If
you want to assemble a list or, whenever a company you’d like to work for
crosses your mind, construct a short introduction letter stating that you’d
like to be considered if there might be a future opportunity, and send it with
your resume by email. Indeed, you will not hear from many of the companies you
contact, and how many companies to which you are currently applying, also replying
to you? Yep, it requires more effort than the activities with which you may
already be engaged, but if that’s all you’re doing, how’s that working for you?
Reactive Internet
activity is important, but incorporating additional measures increases your
odds and I imagine most people would like to increase their chances of success.
As you contemplate the New Year and how you might want to enhance and influence
your good fortune in 2014, make the commitment to a higher level of effort that
most others are not doing.
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