A job search, in itself, is an uncomfortable activity for many people. They may have been in their last position for 5, 10, 20, or more years and the skills used in an effective job search have simply been something they haven’t had a need to develop. So being thrown into the ‘deep end’ as a result of a lay-off or other circumstance creates an immediate ‘fish out of water’ feeling.
Most people quickly fall into a routine of doing their job search the same way most everyone else does theirs… search for online job postings, apply, wait for a call, do some networking, apply, wait, repeat. The problem is, when you only do the same things everyone else is doing, it’s very difficult to distinguish yourself from the dozens, or hundreds of others pursuing the same jobs.
Those activities can become a comfortable groove to get into. At the very least, you can look around and feel like you have plenty of company because it’s the same thing everyone else seems to be doing for their job search as well. If those activities aren’t producing results for you though, you have to consider changing something in order to reach your objective.
It may feel uncomfortable to try something different… it’s outside of your comfort zone. However, you have to decide if you are going to operate only within your comfort zone, or if you are going to do what it takes to get a job! If you decide that getting a job is more important, the rest becomes easier.
An excellent book: Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0: 1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing Your Dream Job can give you several great ideas on how to do things differently than everyone else in order to get noticed.
When companies receive dozens, or hundreds of resumes for each job posting, each one is nothing more than a piece of data. When they see so many of them that can clearly do the job, they become indistinguishable from each other. The candidate that gets noticed and considered is the one that professionally does something different from crowd.
This book gives you excellent ideas, tactics, and strategies to set yourself apart. Things that will get you noticed, and things that will attract them to you to find out more.
Sometimes it’s something simple like mailing your resume in a Thank You card… a Thank You card is much more likely to get opened and looked at than a standard business envelope. Other tactics are more involved. Are there risks? Yes. Do these ideas take extra effort? Of course. Are they unconventional? Yes… and that’s the point. In this job market, only executing a conventional approach will rarely produce effective results.
Are you willing to step off the beaten path? Are you willing to try new things in your job search in order to make progress that has eluded you so far? Check out this book and take a walk outside of your comfort zone!
Are you willing to step off the beaten path?
Tags:
Job Search,
Tips
