Tuesday, May 15, 2007
the job search...now
I left my job a little over a month ago, due to complete BURN OUT!! I just couldn't go on another day. The first week of no work was great!!! Week 2 the reality started to slowly seep in, but not really. Week 3, a little worse, although I had been on at least 3 real interviews, and several informational interviews. Last week...YIKES! I have no job. A month and no job. A mortgage and no job! I am college educated, smart, really ambitious, great experience in the advertising and beauty world, tons of connections..I am just looking for a change. Is there no one out there willing to take a chance on me??? I am doing everything I can to stay focused and keep busy. Making lists every day of people to contact and network with. Perusing every website I come across with relevant job postings, applying to everything I see that seems to be a good fit. Headhunters. What else? It seems to be working, and then things hit a dead end. Not sure when the cut off is to just take a job temping as a receptionist somewhere? I am so confused.....I need some advice in a bad way! No one seems to be honest with me, just wanted to support my wishes to make a change!
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2 comments:
If you still think your powerful resume and cover letter will get you in the door, good luck. The traditional system of finding employment that relies on posting your resume on every job board imaginable, and responding to job postings wherever they can be found, no longer works. Your resume is what I call a "necessary evil" since you have to have a professional resume as part of your search. But use it as back-up, as reinforcement.
Here's some advice to those of you who remain stubborn, still engaged in mass resume distribution and waiting for the phone to ring. You need to change your mindset and conduct a strategic vs. traditional job search that focuses on broadcasting your value to the business community, NOT your resume. Your biggest challenge in job search is differentiation. How will YOU stand out from the millions in the job market?
Think your resume makes you stand out from the crowd? Think again. You’ve probably tweaked your resume to death since you began your job search, and now you think your resume is one in a million. Well, guess what? It is. It’s one of millions. Regardless of how much you paid someone to prepare your resume, no matter how professional your resume may look, how stunning your experience and accomplishments may be, or how amazing your education is, at the end of the day a resume is a resume is a resume. Therefore you look like everyone else. Get the picture? And like everyone else’s, your resume will inevitably end up in HR - sitting in a stack a foot high that came in that week. And there sits some overworked personnel jockey who will give your resume no more than 15-30 seconds, looking for certain key words and phrases. Do you really want that personnel jockey deciding if you're valuable enough to put in front of the hiring manager for an interview, or do you want the hiring manager making that decision?
HR is what I call "Hiring Resistance" because the whole process starts with rejection. My advice: avoid Human Resources like the plague.
Desperate times call for a nontraditional, strategic approach to job search to shorten your time in transition. Target companies; not jobs. Broadcast your value, not your resume, to hiring managers in those companies of interest. Once in the door, continue to separate yourself from the competition by conducting a strategic interview that will greatly enhance your chances of getting the offer.
I welcome any and all comments.
Greg
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