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… And what to do to supercharge your efforts.
In addition to today’s topic, we will be diving a bit deeper into the subject with Joe Murawski, an Executive Search Consultant and Professional Recruiter with Focused Hire and an Authorized Representative of Spectrum Career, LLC. You can find Joe at www.FocusedHire.com. Why listen to anything I have to say? Twenty-seven years of experience in the Employment Industry. After interviewing thousands of candidates from the shop floor to executive suite, I have witnessed the pitfalls to avoid and most importantly, the activities that yield impressive results.
Top 10 Reasons You Are Not Finding a Job
- You are not spending about 40 hours/week looking for a job. Treat your job search just like you are working for someone else. Work regular hours. Take breaks. Know your responsibilities and be accountable to meet up to them. If you are currently employed, spend 10-15 hours per week, but keep the same work ethic you have on your full time job.
- You don’t have a system for finding a job. An effective job search is unlikely while you are in your boxer shorts. How do you organize your information? Find a good CRM (customer relationship management) software can keep you organized. Try www.JibberJobber.com.
- You are unrealistic about your experience. Are your income expectations out of line with what is being paid for your background?
- Maybe you aren’t aware of how much stress is involved in a job search. Become aware of your stress points and find ways to address them. Talk about them openly with trusted confidants. Find ways to reward yourself things that don’t cost a lot of money when you meet objectives.
- Job seekers have a tendency to overlook small companies. Big name companies have big budgets to advertise their job openings and tend to get all the attention. Often times, small employers don’t even advertise their openings.
- Lack of understanding that getting face time with people that hire is the only thing that counts. The number of resumes you send don’t necessarily count.
- Lack of preparation is a critical problem that directly affects the possibility of receiving a job offer. Do your research about the company before you have any contact with them. Get a practice partner to role play your interviews. Perhaps you can record yourself answering questions. Don’t have a recorder? You probably have one on your smart phone. If you don’t, there is most likely a free app you can download to record your practice session. As a last resort, call yourself on your cell phone and use the voicemail. Do one better … video record yourself or practice in front of a mirror.
- You don’t know how to sell yourself. Chances are very good that you are not a trained sales person … and a job search is a sales activity. We tend to be unaware of the value we bring to a perspective employer. Take time to analyze your strengths and identify accomplishments. What have you done to make an employer money, save an employer money or improve processes?
- Perhaps you are focused on self serving issues. You income, commute, and benefits should not come up in the interview until the employer offers you the job. Until you receive an offer, your conversation need to be exclusively about how you can benefit your potential employer. After an offer, you can talk about anything that affects your welfare then because the employer sees your value to them.
- Making excuses for why you left your last job or why you have decided to change jobs can kill your interview. Take personal responsibility. You can share anything confidently without casting blame on anybody or telegraphing bitterness.
Joe Murawski, Executive Search Consultant
Joe is a seasoned professional in the Staffing and Search Industry. He has interviewed thousands of candidates for positions in a variety of industries. His insight into the challenges faced by job seekers come from working in the trenches with candidates on a daily basis.
Interview notes: Most people look in the newspaper or apply online and as a result are missing most of the available jobs. The Department of Labor indicates that 80% of positions that are filled and unadvertised openings.
The reason only 20% of filled jobs are advertised is that half of the positions are filled by a referral. It is a couple of months between the time the hiring manager has a need and the posting actually makes it to HR for a position to be advertised. Even then, and internal posting is usually required before going outside the company to fill the position.
HR will usually focus on filling positions that are urgent and they ones that are less urgent are put on the back burner and often not even advertised. A candidate that is qualified for one of the less urgent positions and comes to the company’s attention, a hire is possible when an ad was never run.
Publicly traded companies may not want to release information that a senior level individual is being replaced for fear that it could negatively impact stock prices. Perhaps someone is being replaced and the company does not want to alert the person being replaced.
A percentage of positions cannot be filled through an ad because the supply of candidates is so incredibly low. This is the type of position that is usually outsourced to a recruiter. So focusing your job search online may not be as beneficial as contacting a hiring manager directly.
Candidates often don’t know what they want to do, haven’t considered all the skill sets and accomplishments. A candidate cannot do an effective job selling themselves if they have not explored all they have to offer.
A candidate’s own understanding of transferrable skills along with the ability to articulate them is paramount . Research will help a candidate determine organizations that would be a good match for them.
One thing that impedes and individual job search is applying for a position through Human Resources rather than developing a relationship with a Hiring Authority first. Human Resources has a tendency to screen people out while the Hiring Manager has a tendency to screen people in.
A Hiring Manager is more likely to have done the job of the person they are considering for a position, and they certainly have supervisory responsibility. Human Resources typically hasn’t done the job for the position they are trying to fill and they don’t supervise them. It is more of an academic pursuit for HR while the Hiring Manager has an intimate understanding of the position and the culture of the department for which the candidate is being considered.
A candidate’s lack of good organizational skills impede their ability to conduct an effective job search. Also, a candidate needs to make their job finding a job. If unemployed, spend 40 hours looking. If currently employed, spend 10 – 15 hours.
Recap …
The Top Ten Reasons You Are Not Finding a JobSpending about 40 hours/week looking for a job.
- You don’t have a system for finding a job.
- You are unrealistic about your experience.
- Maybe you aren’t aware of how much stress is involved in a job search.
- Become aware of your stress points and find ways to address them.
- Job seekers have a tendency to overlook small companies.
- Lack of understanding that getting face time with people that hire is the only thing that counts.
- Lack of preparation is a critical problem that directly affects the possibility of receiving a job offer.
- You don’t know how to sell yourself.
- Perhaps you are focused on self serving issues.
- Making excuses for why you left your last job or why you have decided to change jobs can kill your interview.
Jibber Jobber Contact Management Software for Job Seekers – www.JobSearchThatWorks.com/jj
Joe Murawski, Owner | Focused Hire | www.FocusedHire.com
Something to Ponder
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
What are your thoughts?
What are two of the greatest challenges you have face in your most recent job search? Share your thoughts in the comment section of the show notes.
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