I frequently hear from people who have been looking for a job for months and are starting to wonder if there’s life out there on our planet. They’ve worked their networks, they’ve updated their resume, portfolio, cover letters, they apply to every possible job at every possible level and still – silence…Enough silence that you realize there’s a mouse living in your walls – never noticed it because it only comes out during the day and you’re usually at work. All of the daytime renovations in your apartment building are probably a revelation too. You might not have known that your upstairs neighbor was gutting her kitchen until you stopped going out during working hours in case you missed something at your computer.
By the time these job seekers call me, they’re not only exhausted but they’ve begun to question their abilities and their sanity. If you’ve gotten to this point, I highly recommend you contact someone who can give you an objective opinion about what might be going on. Sure, you can blame some of it on the economy, but there’s probably something you could change that could make a difference.
It’s often hard for us to see these things for ourselves, so you could call that friend of yours who just got a new job (they’ve just experienced it themselves so could have some good insights), a career coach or a recruiter that you trust. Talk to this person about all that you’re doing and see if they can help you do some tweaking.
If you’ve already tweaked like crazy, you might think “tweak what?” but believe me, with a fresh pair of eyes, there’s always something to tweak.
One common energy drain that I see is people applying to endless job postings. First of all, it’s sad but true that most of these online application systems are blackholes. But still, it’s their procedure, so you need to do it. But, don’t stop there. If you really want the job and feel that you’re a good fit, then see if you can find someone who can get you in front of the right person.
That takes energy too, so don’t waste it for jobs that you’re overqualified for or that you don’t really care about. I say “overqualified” specifically because in a market like this, recruiters are seeing tons of overqualified candidates and they’re probably not going to call you. They want people who will be challenged and stay in the job for a reasonable amount of time.
If you’re finding that you’re not hearing back from jobs that you’d be perfect for, then there could be something wrong with your resume or your portfolio. Try to think back to comments that people have made when you do talk to them. I had one client who was told by someone that she didn’t know what to do with her based on her resume. It turned out that that was my initial reaction to her resume too. It was too broad. So we worked on changing the resume to make it more specific and she’s already getting more calls and interviews.
Another thing to ask yourself is how are you networking? If you’re just connecting to everyone on Linked In, but not having actual conversations with them, then that’s not going to help very much on it’s own. You might be hesitant to “bother” people more than requesting a connection, but it’s all in how you communicate. Be respectful of their time and make your communication brief and direct.
Maybe you know a friend of a friend who works at the type of company you’d like to work at. You could send them an email saying “I’m Joe’s friend and we met at that Halloween party. I was the Balloon Boy. I’m in the process of looking for work and saw that you work in my industry. Could I buy you coffee or lunch so I could ask your advice about some things?”
I know it feels like a bother to this guy, but you’re not asking them out for an evening. It’s just lunch or a coffee break. Everyone needs to eat and take breaks. Also, most people do like to help others. They also like to talk about themselves. What have you got to lose?
These are just a couple of examples, but my point is that while the job search used to be very straightforward (illustrated by how your parents can’t figure out why you just can’t get a job), it’s no longer that way. It’s a search that requires you to be strategic, flexible, humble yet confident. Another thing is make sure you’re taking care of yourself. You might have had to cut back on the pedicures, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give yourself a break and have coffee with a friend who has nothing to do with your job search. They just make you laugh. Because if there’s not time for that, then what’s the point of any of it?
