11

Mistakes

to Avoid While

Job Searching

11

Mistakes

1 Lack of Focus

2 Presentation Statement

3 Resume Mistakes

4 Applying and Posting Online

5 Networking

6 Not Being Proactive

7 Interviewing

8 Unrealistic Expectations

9 Lack of Consistent Effort

10 Acknowledging Help

11 Consider a Career Coach

to Avoid While

Job Searching

Let’s begin by acknowledging that it has never been

more difficult to advance your career or to make a job

change. Whether it is early in your career or you are a

seasoned professional, the challenges are daunting. The

good news is that there is a lot of free help on the

internet, in bookstores and in a variety of support

groups.

The bad news is that there is so much information out

there that it can be overwhelming.

With so much information to take into consideration,

there are some common mistakes that job seekers

make, especially those that may be involuntarily in the

market for a new role.

Over the years, many of my clients launched a job search without clearly

thinking about what they wanted to do, where they wanted to do it or the

steps they needed to take from beginning to end. Frankly,

some were still angry and confused about being in the situation to begin

with and many others had never had to look for a job before. Many began

their search process by calling their close contacts just to let them know

what happened, and a fairly high percentage did some self-damage with

these calls. In some cases, they couldn’t communicate a game plan, so

the person they called couldn’t help even if they wanted to. In other

cases, the tone of the call was at least slightly negative and a perfectly

good contact could have been spoiled—maybe forever.

The key point to make here is that after a little decompression time, an

initial game plan needs to be put together before anything else is

done. The game plan can be multi-path as long as the directions to be

explored are realistic.

Lack of Focus

The Presentation Statement (PS) is what you say when someone asks

you, "Why should we hire you?" or invites you to "tell me about

yourself." The PS is the 30-second “elevator speech.” This is such an important concept that many good career coaches

insist that their clients write this out ahead of time and pretty much use

it all the time, modifying it only slightly to fit particular situations. Other

coaches suggest that the client prepare a series of one-liners and keep

them in mental inventory for use in appropriate combinations when

needed. Sometimes you don’t get a full 30 seconds to speak at one

time either. You can now see why you need a game plan—after all, how

do you put together a PS without having a plan?

The content of a good PS answers: who I am; what I have done; what I

can do; and what do I want to do.

Similarly, another very important concept is the Transition Statement

(TS) which answers the questions: “why am I available?" or "what

happened at XYZ Corp.?" The mistake often made by many terrific

people looking to get ahead is that they don’t prepare these statements

ahead of time, and in periods of high stress, pressure or on those

occasional bad days, they make something up on the fly and don’t

communicate as well as they could have.

Presentation Statement

There is no perfectly correct resume format. There are classic, commonly

preferred resume formats depending on the client. But there are two

common mistakes found in many resumes:

• Stating an Objective: Some career coaches, especially for job searchers

right out of school, make sure you state your objective right on top on the

resume. However, after you have been in the field and gaining

experience for a few years, the objective belongs in a cover letter or in a

Presentation Statement. Why? Because stating an objective on a

resume can be more restrictive.

• Listing Job Responsibilities instead of Accomplishments: Recruiters and

hiring executives want to see challenges faced, actions taken and

results that occurred. Putting some words under each job held about

responsibilities and duties is okay, but accomplishments are even better.

Resume Mistakes

This has taken the place of mass mailings as the job-seeker's panacea.

When the job market is as tough as it is now, just applying online is not

enough. In fact, if a job seems worth applying for online, it should be worth

doing a side-by-side analysis with your applicable qualifications to see

how good the fit really is. Even if the qualification match is at nearly 85%,

it is very unlikely that there will be a call-back unless you make an effort to

get face-to-face meetings with the company. And if there is no

way for you to follow up on the job application, the match should be close

to 100% to make it worthwhile. Even then, there may be no call-back from

the hiring manager. This can be huge a source of frustration for job

seekers.

The fact is that there are likely hundreds of online applicants for each job.

Follow-up and personal meetings are a must to have a chance

at success.

Applying and Posting Online

Networking is the most useful job search tool, but can also be the one

people avoid the most. My favorite job change rule is that those we

expect to help us, won’t and those we may not expect to help us, will.

My second favorite job change rule is scheduling 2-5 face-to-

face meetings a week will lead to a successful job

change. You shouldn’t exclude anyone from networking meetings, and

you have to think outside the box to figure out how to meet with people

face-to-face each week. Then, at each meeting you should (politely)

ask for 2-3 introductions or referrals and make sure

to follow through on each. In return, you should offer to be of help now

and in the future at each meeting too. You never know how you might

be able to help someone else.

Networking

Some career coaching professionals will suggest that applying for open

positions online is a passive activity. In other words, we wait for a job to

be open and posted before we take action.

A more aggressive, proactive approach is to identify target

employers and take steps to become known before a job opening is

posted. In fact, the best clients do both. Just posting your resume on a

target company's site isn’t enough. Most agree that networking into the

firm using LinkedIn or even cold calling is a good way to start. Remember,

the largest job market includes positions that are filled by unsatisfactory

employees, open slots not yet filled or even positions that get

created for spectacular candidates who become known in some

way by hiring executives.

Not Being Proactive

We won’t even discuss the candidates who show up with a list of their

demands or whose only question is about days off. However, I can think of

no better way to prepare for an interview than to do a detailed side-by-side

analysis of the job description and how each requirement is met or

exceeded. What a confidence builder!

Then, to all those ramblers out there, remember nothing else but this point:

People hear and retain no more than 3 sound bites at a time.

Two is better than 3, and 1 is better than 2. Think for a second or two and

answer questions in impactful sound bites. Avoid rambling,

wordy answers.

Finally, prepare some key questions to ask. The most important question

is: “ Do you see any obstacles to my being offered this job?” The second

most important is: “How would you like me to follow up with you?”

Ultimately, be enthusiastic about the job and ask for it!

Interviewing

I remember a client who made a dozen calls and had 15 resumes on the

street the day he was laid off. He had the idea that he was going to collect

his severance as well as a new larger salary in days! He knew everybody

in the industry. However, after a couple of months of unreturned calls, he

was depressed. He wanted to change his resume and wanted a

list of recruiters who would find him a job. Two more months went by. Not

only did he make some of the other mistakes I've mentioned, but he also

made the mistake of having unrealistic expectations.

There are articles out there that say you should expect one month of

search for each $10,000 of income. I believe that is unrealistic, too.

Factors that directly impact the length of search are:

• Degree of occupation change

• Number of different paths explored

• Limited geographic options

• Change in geographic location

• Degree of specialization

• Limited opportunities in current location

• Activity level of search

• Lack of focus

• Pay demands in relation to the market

• Luck

Unrealistic Expectations

Everyone is different, but one thing that often results in an unsuccessful

job change is taking a couple of months off. The network

gets cold, your skills get rusty, the strategy gets murky, the

severance gets used up, the market changes, the pressure gets higher

and it becomes harder to quickly get back into a routine.

The most proven approach is to begin early, follow the process we have

discussed, spend 20-25 hours a week on the job search,

gain some balance in your life, get the strategy and communication tools

ready and then get into it. If a vacation is planned, take 2 weeks, but

then get back into the job of finding a job.

Lack of Consistent Effort

Failing to acknowledge ideas, suggestions, introductions, referrals,

criticisms, or any kind of feedback is a huge mistake. By thanking

everyone, they will be much more open to

reconnection later and to future help.

Acknowledging Help

For professionals who haven’t been in the job market in the past year

or two, navigating the job market without help is difficult at best and

fruitless at worst. There is a proven comprehensive process

that works. Most people going on their own fail to prepare properly and

just wing it over several weeks, ending up more and more frustrated.

A good recommendation is to at least talk to a good career coach.

Investing in a career coach with supporting tools always results in a

fantastic ROI and will also result in your ability to successfully

manage a career for the remaining years.

Consider a Career Coach

About the Author

Steve Basinski

Vice President – Senior Consultant

Steve Basinski is an experience-based personal strategy consultant. He has

held senior management and leadership positions in business development,

sales management, marketing, accounting, finance, international business

and general management for both large and small organizations.

His industry experience includes commercial and business aviation, high

and low tech manufacturing, international distribution and professional

services.

Steve has lived in three European countries and conducted business around

the world and in over 90% of the United States. After many years supporting

the careers of colleagues and teammates, he decided to provide

professional career coaching services for those seeking to change or

advance their careers.

Steve has also served on industry boards, church committees, college

groups and mentoring organizations. He has been a successful career

consultant and executive coach for over 17 years.

Steve has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Michigan State University.

Interested in Advancing Your Career?

We have successfully worked with hundreds of mid- to senior- level professionals to help them achieve career success. Contact us and let us know how we can help you. Patrick Lynch - President patl@frontiergroupusa.com (770) 455 4225