Insider Secrets Part III: What Your Career Coach Won’t Tell You
This is the third in a series of blogs on this topic as I thought this would be a fun way to start the New Year. I’ve reached out to a number of other career counselors as well as to former clients and other professionals in the field. By “insider secrets” I simply mean fresh, new ideas to help you reach your career goals in 2015. Here’s the third tip from me, “The Back To Work! Coach.
Turn Off Your Computer and Get a Job!
Isn’t this strange advice from a seasoned career coach? What on earth do I mean? Having partnered with thousands of people in transition over the 20+ years I’ve been a career counselor, I’ve seen an unhealthy addiction to answering online ads. So many job seekers are convinced this is the only way to go, even after months of spending hours online filling out applications with no tangible results. If this is unproductive (for most people), what should you do?
Diversify. Experiment. Try different techniques. And because looking for work is a job and a hard one at that, keep track of what’s working and do more of that. And pay attention to what’s not working and do less. Sounds simple but it isn’t as many job seekers don’t know how to tap into the unpublished or hidden job market. If you want guidance on how to do this, look at Orville’s book on networking (see Part II of these blogs), or get my book, “Eliminated! Now What?” from the library and read about how other job seekers have successfully learned how to turn off their computers to get a job.
No career coach can tell you exactly how or when you’ll land your next position. But we can tell you what a healthy, productive search looks like. So network, target companies directly, use a list of companies that you’re interested in as a key networking tool, go to association and job search group meetings, ask for advice, thank people often and invest in yourself. It’s going to be a great new year!
Good advice, Jean. I advise job seekers to consider themselves to be self-employed, the CEO of Myself Inc, and then to market themselves in the same way a small business markets its services. This means identifying a market niche – not applying for every possible job but selecting 2 or 3 openings that really appeal – and then going flat out for them. It’s the candidate who puts in the best application (and by that I mean resume, interview, research and networking, the whole application process) who is most likely to get the job. I devote two chapters to networking in my new book “How to Get a Good Job After 50” (hard copy due out in March; ebook very soon). Because many job seekers find this difficult, I break down the whole networking process into doable steps, and I have found this approach very effective with reluctant networker clients.