How and Why to DIY

I like doing things for myself. One reason is that I don’t much like waiting for someone else lacking my same sense of urgency and I’d rather do the lead, follow or get out of the way thing. I might step out of the way if someone has a better idea but I’m not much of a follower. Seeking and getting help is okay but I tend to be impatient waiting for others to get moving.

In a recent blog I alluded to a technique of finding job openings and opportunities you can then take on by your own initiative. If you follow the crowd and are satisfied with that approach, all good and well. Most people looking for jobs engage in the ritual of looking at online job boards and services and, if they see a job they like, they dutifully submit their resume and then await their turn. No problem, that is the system, but the way it is set up the job positions do not share the name of the company; you must go through whomever posted the job and jump through hoops before they will determine, first, if they will send your resume forward. I suppose it is blasphemy, as a recruiter, to share this information because I also protect the identity of my clients during initial conversations with potential job candidates. But I resolved a few years ago to share what I know in order to help individual job seekers with the means by which to empower themselves because, especially during the last few years, I think the deck’s stacked against individuals forced to submit (I don’t care much for that word) to processes which increasingly lack a pulse. Much to the dismay of human resource pros, nice folks though they may be, HR is less human than ever - meanwhile you’re sitting on the outside, looking like a forlorn dog waiting to be let in from the rain.

If you want to obediently follow the rules, so be it, but if you wish to be more hands on concerning your own job search activities, here is an easy method you can use; so easy in fact, you’ll feel like Alvin York at a turkey shoot. The next time you are on any of the popular job portals, I want you to highlight the body of the job description and copy it, and then cut & paste it into Google and watch what comes up. Very often, you will find a link directly to the weblink of the company that posted the job. Try it and see for yourself, it doesn’t work every time but most often it does. Congratulations -- you’ve just taken some of the mystery out of the job search process. Although I have clients and referrals in my business this is the technique I use. If, for example, I know of a qualified person, see a job online and want to know who the employer is, I go around the third party and contact the company directly. You can do the same thing. Like a lightning bolt “BAM!” you’re less dependent or solely reliant on faceless middlemen / women or a software program now, aren’t you?

Once you’ve ID’d the company posting the job, at the very least you can decide whether you want to pursue it. And don’t automatically dismiss recruiters who are the gatekeepers because often they have a relationship with the companies on whose behalf they work, which can be helpful. But there is nothing preventing you from going your own way and making direct contact, having removed one preliminary step in the process. However, if you choose to go direct, don’t do so without beforehand preparing yourself for how to go about it in the most effective manner. And therein lies the reason why most people will step back and rely upon the  submit, sit and wait manner of job search – they simply don’t know how to do it for themselves. If you are dismayed, don’t be, although there is no add hot water and stir instantly-gratifying solution for everything. But one step at a time; this method can help you and is but one of many steps to make you less dependent on that which cannot be controlled and it brings you a step closer to better influencing your way forward.

What do you think about this blog? (no registration required)