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SALT LAKE CITY -- Today, the average job search takes an average of over 30 weeks. It takes so long because most job candidates are still trying to find a job the way it was done in the 20th century by sending out 1,000 resumes and then waiting to see what comes back.
The chance of landing the right job that way is about 1 in 100, if that good. Every time you post your resume at a job posting website, so do 100 other people. Ask a human resource manager and he or she can tell you the higher the number of resumes they receive and the low number of seconds he or she give each resume.
If that doesn’t work, then what does? Easy, find the job that hasn’t been posted yet.
Every company is hiring for some position all the time, whether it knows it or not. Big companies are looking for someone to replace the one that just quit, got promoted or retired. Small companies are always talking about the next person they hire. They just haven’t gotten around to doing it yet.
That’s when the smart candidate walks in the door and says, “Here I am.”
Today’s job search is based around the computer, not to send out resumes, but rather to gather information. The knowledge about professions, companies, industries and business in general available online outshines the world’s largest libraries. You just have to dig in and pull it out.
Here are some tips to shorten the job search and increase your success.
Tip No. 1: Focus on what you can do, not what title you had
Titles mean nothing and they change from company to company. You may have been an accountant, but what you can do is understand a company’s finances, make decisions based on knowledge and understanding, manage projects, guide and direct a team of professionals. Focus on what you bring to a company that will make it money. That is what it is looking for.
Get out of the habit of searching the Internet for titles. Get in the habit of searching for strengths, talents, skills. The job search will be much more rewarding, as well as the final job.
Get out of the habit of searching the Internet for titles. Get in the habit of searching for strengths, talents, skills. The job search will be much more rewarding, as well as the final job.
Tip No. 2: The computer is for research not posting resumesThe primary use of the Internet is to learn about companies not send resumes. When you hear about an industry you might be interested in, look it up on the Internet to see what you can learn, and don’t just look at its website. Look at what else is written about it. You will find blogs and articles and published research and plenty of other information that will help you decide if this is a place where you can thrive.
Tip No. 3: Get out of the house
No job is found in your pajamas. You have to go where other people go. Get up in the morning and go. The more people you meet, the more likely you are to find the right job for you. Most jobs do not come from your first level of contacts. They come from someone you know who knows someone who knows someone. Go meet a new someone every day.
Tip No. 4. Go knock on somebody’s door
The first step in a company deciding to hire someone is talking about a need. The company may just be toying with the idea when you walk in the door and say, “Are you hiring anybody like me today?” When that happens, and it really does, you don’t have to post a resume, you are the resume, and the only job candidate.
Tip No. 5: Make your value decisions early
There is an adrenaline rush when someone finally offers you a job. Your gratitude for his or her belief in you is so overwhelming that emotion takes over where logic needs to prevail. Without having determined in advance such things as how much travel time, how much money goes into my bank each month, are we willing to relocate, what is the insurance package like, you may say yes when you should be running as fast as you can the other direction. Don’t let the moment overwhelm the real decision. Ask for time to evaluate the offer with your family. It will be time well spent.
Tip No. 6: Build a portfolio
Portfolios are common in creative professions where someone wants to see your work before they hire you. In every profession today they can make the hiring decision easier for the company because a good portfolio shows what you have done before and what you can do for them.
A portfolio answers the question: “How can I visually illustrate my success?”
Take whatever you have done, put it into a portfolio, walk into a company and say, “Let me show you what I can do for you.”
Your illustration of what you can do for a company is tangible, something it can hold on to. And, when you walk out of the room, it gives the company something to talk about.
Tip No. 7: Give the company numbers it can count on
It costs a lot of money for a company to hire you. Estimates range from one to three years of salary in hard and soft costs. The company is asking, “If I hire you, when do I get my money back?” It doesn't want guesses and theory. It wants proof you can do it.
Look at what you have accomplished in your career and put a number to it. Look for something you did that saved the company money, saved the company time, made a process better, eliminated a process that didn’t really work. When a candidate can say, “I did this and saved the company 10 percent of the time in the process” you are making your new employer money.
Tip No. 8: The job search only works as hard as you do
If you work 10 hours a week, then the job search will take months. If you work 40 hours a week, the job search will take weeks, That decision is up to you. That list of things you wanted to get done this summer can wait. Finding work is work, and the ones that work the hardest find the job the quickest.
Tip No. 9: Use the resources
There are plenty of places you can go to for help on the techniques and ways to search for work: government agencies, church organizations, alumni groups are all out there for you to work with. Take advantage of the resources, and then contribute to the resources once you have landed in the right spot for you.
Tip No. 10: Get a team to help you
A company has a board of directors that holds it accountable for what it does. A job candidate needs a board of directors to report to each week to hold he or she accountable to a process. If there is no one to check up on you, it becomes too easy to slip away. Get people you can trust and want you to succeed. See them face-to-face each week and report on what you have done. That meeting is the most important interview you can have each week.
Steve Asay is the director of career services for LDS Business College. He is also a volunteer with LDS Employment Services Professional Program. He has helped hundreds of people finish their job search successfully.
